Hidden Strength of Uzumaki
by Zarodius
Summary: Hello all, Currently, this story is being rewritten because it isn't up to snuff, i'll leave the original up until i get it to where im satisfied. IM NOT GIVING UP ON THE STORY!
1. Chapter 1

Hidden strength of Uzumaki

Note: Zarodius does not own Naruto or anything affiliated with it! Also, i want to make this very, VERY clear before i start this story...**NO YOAI!**

The small, blonde boy looked to be about the age of five as he turned the corner and ran full-out trying to get away from a group of drunken villagers. He kept running into trash cans and dumpsters though, his bright blue eyes now a glazed, dull blue. The boy was blind. A brick thrown by an angry villager last year hit him square in the back of the head and now he could no longer see.

And the year before that, he had been beaten so badly he couldn't move for a week. This always happened on October 10th, he didn't know why it simply did for as long as he could remember.

And it hurt more than the actual beatings he got. He had to deal with behavior like this on almost day to day basis, and the physical abuse didn't bother him as much as why it happened. He didn't have any friends, anytime he saw kids his own age the parents would pick them up or move them behind them before he could do anything. He didn't have any family, no one to look up to, no one to teach him, and no one to explain why he was treated like he was. He had never been cared for or respected, just abused and beaten.

Some of the villagers were nice, the man who owned the ramen stand in particular was nice and helped him when he could. He had even pulled the boy out of a beating once risking his own well being, and he made the best food ever! Naruto asked why he had helped him out of the beating and he said:

"it makes my blood boil when I see grown adults treating children like that! Why if I was younger I'd..." and he trailed off mutter things like :beating them with sticks" or "hitting them so hard they wouldn't move for a week." And naruto had found a new friend in this old man. And his daughter ayame was his only friend his age, and he didn't get to see her much because the villagers might start beating her just because they thought she was associated to him.

Another person who was nice to him was an old man called Sarutobi. The old man had bought him clothes and food before and told him that if he ever needed help to come get him, that he was almost always in the Hokage tower. Naruto had been taken back by this and asked why he was being so kind? When he answered he said: " All the people in the village have a certain will, a will of fire that makes us all family here, and anyone with that will is my family, and I don't just leave my family hanging in the wind." He had said with a smile. Naruto had decided then that he like that man.

A rock whizzing past his head jolted him back to reality as he kept running, trying to avoid the main street incase there were anymore villagers out for him today when his heart missed a beat, he had run straight into a wall. He had already been beaten three times today, but nothing serious, scrapes, bruises, and some blood. But this was a whole group, not just one or two people, he didn't want to be caught by them. He turned around to hear the villagers were now slowly walking towards him. The boy desperately felt along the wall, trying to find a way out or past the villagers, his fingers felt along the wood and then he found it, there was a small hole in the fence he thought he had remembered being there from awhile back...if this had even been the same fence.

He ran for it without thinking. The hole was small, and even with his mal-nourished body he was having a hard time getting through. He got halfway through when something caught around his ankle. Knowing it was a villager he started to kick and flail his legs as he pulled himself through with his arms.

The flailing caused him to graze his side on a sharp part of the fence and the wound slowly started to ooze blood. His eyes started to water when he thought he wasn't going to make it through when another kick rewarded him with a startled yelp and he was let go.

Having his legs free gave him enough time to push his way the rest of the way into the whole, ripping out a sharp piece of wood in his leg as he got through. The villagers being drunk, had had enough of chasing the boy an broke off pursuit.

Leaning back against the fence, the boy's anguish took over and he started to cry, wondering why he was hated and what he did to deserve such a miserable life?

Anko was enjoying some dango in her house when she heard a lot of noise coming from her backyard. She turned in her chair and looked around, but didn't see anything but a fence. She turned back to her dango when she turned back almost immediately when she heard loud cries of "DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!" and "GRAB HIM".

The people sounded rather drunk. Then she saw what looked like a small, blonde colored porcupine squeezing it's way through a hole in her fence. Then it looked up and she realized it was the head of a small child. It took him a few seconds but he managed to wiggle through the fence and lean back against it as the villagers broke off pursuit

. He then just looked down at his hands and started crying. Anko dropped her dango and rushed out the door to the boy, wondering what was going on and almost gasped at his appearance.

His blonde hair was matted with dirt and blood among other indistinguishable bits of filth. His shirt was dark gray with many stains and holes in it. He had black shorts on that came up above his knees that he had obviously grown out of and no shoes. Upon looking at him closer she saw that his eyes were glazed over, he was blind. He was injured, a piece of the fence sticking out of his right calf and a graze on his side, along with several cuts and bruises.

She started to approach him when his head snapped in her direction, having heard the noise, startled out of his crying he tried to go back out the hole he'd come in through. He almost got out but the wood in his leg kept him from getting through and caused him to scream in pain when it smacked against the fence. Anko quickly grabbed his legs and pulled him back through before he could injure himself more.

Before he could do anything else the man/women on the other side of the fence grabbed his legs and pulled him back, setting him on the ground. All he could think to do was to cover his head with his arms and curl into a small ball and wait for the beating to come. But it didn't.

He slowly calmed down, finding that whoever it was gently rubbing his back, trying to calm him down. When he realized the person wasn't going to hit him, he sat up and sniffed, placing Anko's scent and the feel of her hands as a her. She moved a hand to his head and he flinched, she hesitated for a moment, then began to mess his hair up some. Looking at her she was smiling and asking his name.

"What's your name?"She asked.

"M-my name"? He asked, not believing she hadn't hit him yet.

"Well you do have a name don't you"? She asked smiling at him encouragingly.

"My name is...Uzumaki Naruto."

"Im Mitarashi Anko." The woman said.

"Why were those villagers chasing you?" Anko asked. Anko saw his eyes turn from confusion to pain as he looked at the ground again.

'He knew that if he told her the truth and she found out who he was, she wouldn't be nice to him anymore and would probably start to beat him. But he also realized that he had just clawed his way through her fence and into her yard, so she had a right to know why

. "The villagers were...trying to catch me so they could beat me up..." Naruto said in a whisper, waiting for the woman to react, to yell, scream, or start hitting him. He mentally braced himself but when he looked at her again all he could see was a look of shock on her face for a brief moment before anger flashed across her eyes

. "NANI!!?" Anko yelled, outraged.

'Here it comes.' Naruto thought before shielding himself with his arms again

. Anko looked down and realized she had scared him with her yelling and quickly put a hand on his shoulder and soothing him. "Im sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, the villagers just piss me off sometimes" Anko said with an apologetic tone in her voice.

Naruto looked up at her and then let his arms slowly drop to his side. A few moments passed between the two in silence. Naruto had never really talked to another person from the village before, with the exception of iruchika and his daughter, along with the hokage.

There was Nami, but she only appeared when he was in desperate need or despair So he wasn't sure what to make of Anko.

Anko wasn't sure how to treat Naruto because one: she never did much with little kids anyway. And Two: most people thought of her as crazy and stayed away from her anyway.

The small boy in front of her looked at her suspiciously and asked: "why aren't you hitting me or yelling at me?" Anko's blood started to boil that the first thing a five year old kid would relate meeting new people to beatings or yelling, but she calmed herself and said something that brought him out of his shock.

"Cause im not like those arrogant asshole in the village that have a stick so far up there ass they have to stand straight." Naruto stared at her for a second before amusement lit up his face and he started to howl in laughter.

Oh that smile on the child! It was worth anything to keep it there! She smiled at him as he took to her joke but then she looked at him concerned as he started coughing hard and breathing shallow breaths before he fell over and passed out.

Anko was shocked, looking at him to see what was wrong she had totally forgotten about the fencing in his leg and the other graze. Mentally kicking herself for forgetting, she pulled the wood out and picked him up carefully in her arms before making straight for the hospital.

Many of the villagers glared or spit at her for carrying the child, but she was running to fast to have the time to beat them senseless. She had to get the kid to the hospital and fast. She put on another burst of speed as she saw the hospital and practically broke down the doors when she reached them yelling:

HEY, WE GOT AN EMERGENCY HERE!

A few nurses came and gasped in horror at the boy before taking him and putting him on a bed then rolling him into an operating room, she followed them to the door where a nurse told her she would have to wait until they were done healing the boy and to sit on the bench in the meantime. Sighing, Anko took her seat on the bench by the window and waited

Naruto was in a cold, damp room. It was dark, with a bunch of leaky pipes and a massive wooden cage in front of him. Wait...he could see! Naruto leaped around enjoy until a piece of paper on the cage caught his eye. The paper said "Seal" on it. A low growl came from the cage and two giant, bright red eyes pierced the darkness in the cage.

"WELL IF IT ISN'T NARUTO UZUMAKI, WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE."

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, feeling an odd sense of... security?

"I HAVE MANY NAMES, THOUGH I AM MOST WIDELY KNOW AS THE KYUUBI. I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO STUMBLE UPON MY PRISON, FOR I WISH TO TALK TO YOU."

"What are you wanting to talk to me about?" Naruto asked curiously.

"HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ABLE TO SEE AGAIN? The kyuubi asked.

Naruto's face lit up at the offer, to be able to see again...would be wonderful. But, he knew there had to be a catch, no one ever wanted to give something away for free.

"What's in this deal for you? Why are you willing to give me such a gift?" Naruto asked.

"HAHAHA, VERY GOOD BOY, YOU KNOW WELL THE WAY OF HUMANS, WHO GIVE NOTHING AND TAKE EVERYTHING. NO THIS NARUTO, I WAS ONCE A GREAT DEMON WITH POWER BEYOND COMPREHENSION. THOUGH FEW KNEW OF ME UNTIL FIVE YEARS AGO. The kyuubi's voice rumbled.

"JUST KNOW THAT IF YOU DIE, I DIE, SO THINK OF THIS AS MY WAY OF KEEPING US ALIVE."

Red chakra then flooded from the cave, completely enveloping Naruto. The room started to blur, the cage faded from view, the leaky pipes disappeared, the breathing of the kyuubi became quiet, almost one with his own, and all he could do was close his eyes and Naruto fell into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Note- **Zarodius does not own anything affiliated with naruto aside from this fanfic.**

Anko was having a fit over a child she barely knew. She went through a multitude of emotions in a very short amount of time and it was wearing her out.

First she was worried for Naruto, the boy looked like he had hardly any meat on him to protect his bones, along with how badly beaten he looked. Then, she was angry. "The Villagers went way to fucking far this time!" She yelled to no one in particular as she waited on Naruto outside the operation room. She was also frustrated that she couldn't do anything for him right now, upset that he had to put up with this at such a young age, and confused because she didn't know why she cared so much.

'Maybe it's because I can relate' Anko thought to herself. Anko had once been a missing Nin with a Man called "Orochimaru" She didn't remember anything of her time with orochimaru except for when he left her in a shack with the cursed seal eating away at her. After that, she woke up back in konoha, being interrogated for what she remembered. She told them what she knew, and the hokage ended up letting her stay in the village. And the villagers treated her like a traitor, calling her things like "bitch" and spitting on her whenever they got the chance.

Anko shivered. 'No one deserves that kind of childhood.'

The light above Naruto's room went out and Anko looked up to see one of the nurse's walking out with a slight smile on her face. "He's fine" She said. And Anko let out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm sorry to say we weren't able to do anything for his eyes, but after a nights rest he'll be fine. The nurse said. Anko nodded her thanks and then made up her mind to go see the hokage.

Anko walked down the main street towards Hokage tower. It was now late in the afternoon, and few people were outside, so she made it to the tower quickly. She walked into the tower and up the stairs to right outside the Hokage's door. She rapped her knuckles on the door a few times. "Come in". The thirds voice mumbled.

Anko stepped into the office and gave a small bow. "Third." Anko said, trying to sound respectful.

"Hello Anko, what brings you to my office?" The third asked.

"I don't know if you've heard or not, but I found a young boy earlier today, Naruto Uzumaki." " He was badly beaten and it looks like he's been living on the streets all his life." Anko stated.

The third sat back into his chair and rubbed his eyes. "Yes Anko, I've heard, and I've known about the boy for awhile now."

Anko couldn't hold back an outburst of anger as she yelled: "YOU'VE KNOWN ABOUT THIS AND YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT!" The thirl looked at her perplexed and asked her to calm down.

"Please Anko, calm yourself, it isnt that I have neglected to help him, it's that I can't help him." The third stated calmly. Anko seemed to calm down a little at this.

"You see, the orphanage won't take him in, and no one will even rent out an apartment for the young boy, so I can't do anything about him being homless."

"But you're the Hokage!" Anko said desperately. "Make someone rent him an apartment!"

"Anko I can not do that, I can't foce them to do something they don't wan't to do, it would be like forcing a store owner to give me free food because im the hokage. The third said.

Anko looked down at her feet as she tried to think of something to do. She hadn't really thought about it that way. Then she had an idea. "He can come live with me. She said. The Third smiled at this, having hoped that she might make the offer.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" The hokage asked. "Five year olds can be a lot of trouble" He chuckled. Anko smiled and said. "Yeah, I'm sure I can handle anything he throws my way, but... Anko said trailing off."Why does everyone hate him so much?" Anko asked. "What has he done to be treated so badly?"

The Third sat back and rubbed his temples. "Well, sense your taking him in, I suppose you have the right to know." He said, trying to think of where to begin. "Anko, you remember when the kyuubi attacked the village five years ago?" It was more of a statement than a question, how could anyone forget that? So Anko just nodded.

"Well, the story goes that the Fourth Hokage defeated and killed the kyuubi in battle, but that is only half of the truth." the Hokage said. "You see, mortals like us can not, truly kill a demon, so it was impossible for the Fourth to kill it, however, he was able to seal the kyuubi away.

Anko thought for a moment, wondering why she hadn't heard this before now. 'So what? He sealed it away, we don't have to worry about it anymore, so why tell a lie and say he killed it?' Anko thought to herself. " So...what did he seal it in" Anko asked.

The Third leaned forward in his chair and said. "He sealed it in his only newborn son, Uzumaki Naruto. The Third said solemnly. Anko sat there for a minute, with her mouth slightly agape, before it clicked. 'That's why they haven't told any of the younger crowd like me, the adults know and treat him horribly, if the children knew too, then he wouldn't even have a life, not that he has much of one as it is.

"I see." Anko said. "So that's why the adults treat him like trash." Anko said. The Third nodded with a grimace on his face. "Yes, the villagers have been very shortsighted in this matter, they think that he is the actual demon." The Third said, shaking his head.

Anko stood up out of her chair and bowed. "Thank you Third, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get Naruto from the hospital and take him home." she said. "I'll go with you if you give me a minute to get my coat, I would like to talk to Naruto anyway." The Third said, not really giving her a chance to agree as he got up and got his coat.

The two left the tower and went straight to the hospital, it was now almost dusk, and they had been talking for a few hours. Upon entering the hospital the Third asked to see Naruto. A nurse led him and Anko down away from the front desk towards Naruto's room. As they made there way back the Nurse and Anko nearly jumped out of there skin as they heard someone shriek in pain.

Anko already knew it was Naruto, and feared one of the villagers ahd snuck in through a window to kill him. She ran past the nurse and the hokage, following the screams to a door in the east wing. She came to the door right as the screaming stopped. Anko grabbed the handle, pushed the door open and was bewildered at what she saw... (Don't ya just hate cliffhangers?)

Small authors note- some of you may have noticed that I haven't described any of the characters other than Naruto yet, I haven't forgotten about it, and I'm not being lazy, I was waiting for a specific event that's most likely going to take place in the next chapter, so, sit tight till then. And I know this was a slow chapter, but I promise I'll make up for it with the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Anko burst into the room to find Naruto sitting up in bed, blankly looking around, his eyes were open, but he still didn't see anything. But there seemed to be almost a force radiating off the boy, she couldn't tell what it was though. She stepped forward and Naruto looked up at the noise.

Naruto turned to the direction he heard footsteps from and smelled the air. There was a familiar smell there, along with several others that he hadn't remembered picking up on before. Naruto could feel someone walking to him, almost like they had set off a trip wire that alerted him to there presence. Then someone was sitting next to him and asking what happened?

"What happened? Are you alright?" Anko asked the boy. He shook his head and turned toward her saying yes.

"I'm fine." Naruto said. "Are you the woman from before?" Naruto asked.

"Yep, it's me, Anko." She replied. Then a voice in Naruto's mind said. '_Boy, close your eyes and gather your chakra to your mind, after you have a small ball there, slowly let it out_.'

'What will happen if I do that?' Naruto asked.

'_You will be able to see the room and the people in it in your minds eye for as long as you hold Chakra there_' The voice said.

'OK! Naruto said excitedly. 'Thank you!' Naruto said, starting to focus his Chakra. He felt it slowly gather in his mind, little by little, until he had a sizable amount, he was having a hard time forming it into a ball, but got a rough circle down and then he let the Chakra flow out and he was slowly able to see the room. He saw a teenage girl sitting next to him on the bed first. She had black hair and brown eyes, she wore a trench coat with a fishnet shirt underneath and a mini-skirt.

A little more of the room revealed itself as the chakra flowed out and an old man came into view. He looked pretty old, with a fair amount of wrinkles on his face. He was wearing the hokage robes, complete with hat.

Anko and the old man could feel Chakra flowing off of Naruto, slowly passing Anko and reaching the him, he wasn't sure what was going on, but didn't try to stop it, he didn't feel any intent given off of the boy, so he decided it was probably harmless. Then Naruto's face lit up in excitement.

"I can see!" He yelled happily with his eyes shut, getting on his feet to jump up in down. Anko gave him a worried look before saying.

."Naruto, your eyes are closed and your blind, how can you see?" She asked.

"Well, I don't know how all of it works, but a voice in my mind told me to focus my chakra into my mind and then let it out after I gathered some there." Naruto said happily. "After I did that, I could see you and the old man!" "But it's kinda weird, I can only see you and the old man, I can't see the room, or the bed im on, just you two. Naruto said, slightly perplexed.

'_Don't worry about seeing that much yet, as you learn to control your chakra, you will slowly see more, for now you can only see forms that have there own chakra_.' The voice said lazily.

'Ok, but I have a few questions. Naruto said. 'How exactly does this sight work?' Naruto asked.

'_It's to confusing for you to fully comprehend right now, so for the moment, let's just say that the chakra flowing off of you will bounce off of other chakra near bye, and leave an imprint of what it's hitting in your mind_.' The voice explained_. 'This may not answer everything, but until your older it's all you'll understand_.' the voice said before cutting off communication with him. Naruto got slightly frustrated that he was cutoff before he could ask any more questions, but that would just have to do for now.

"Naruto?" Anko said questioningly, he had just been sitting there with his eyes closed for a minute with spaced out look on his face. Upon hearing his name he stopped zoning out and said.

"Sorry, the voice was telling me a little about how this chakra thing works." Naruto said.

"What did the voice say?" The third asked, knowing that it was most likely the kyuubi.

"It said that I wouldn't understand much, but it said that the chakra flowing off of me would hit other chakra near bye and then bounce back to me, leaving an imprint of what it hit in my mind." Naruto explained. "He also said that I would learn to see more when I learned to control my chakra better, and then it just stopped talking."

Anko and the Third looked at each other, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Sarutobi just shrugged and strode forward. Kneeling down he asked. "How do you feel Naruto?"

"It's like I Said earlier, I feel fine, well, actually, I feel kinda tired now." Naruto admitted.

"You should probably stop gathering your chakra to see, it could wear you out a lot." Sarutobi said.

Naruto nodded and stopped concentrating on keeping the chakra flowing, and just let it drop, as the chakra flow stopped, the images of Anko and Sarutobi spun away, leaving nothing but darkness.

Naruto could no longer see Anko or Sarutobi, but, he could still feel them, It was like sight, but without the sight. HE could tell where they are from all of his combined senses. He could smell the dango coming off of Anko, and the tobacco coming of the old man. He could hear both of them breathing, he could tell exactly where they were without being able to see.

His heightened senses told him all he needed to know, even without his sight. And there was also this curious sensation around him, it was almost like a wall, big, thin, and flexible. Naruto got off the bed and started to walk across the room, as he got to the middle of the room, he could feel the wall around him almost take the shape of the room, Anko and the old man, even the bed and table, bending and warping, then it left an imprint in his mind. He knew where the walls are and how far he could walk before running into one. He wasn't sure how he was doing it, but it was awesome!

Then something occurred to him. "Why are you two here?" Naruto asked. He'd never had any help or comfort before, and he wasn't able to readily accept that they were there for no reason.

"Naruto, how would you like to have a place to live?" Sarutobi asked. "I don't mean the orphanage, or some lonely apartment, but an actual house. Naruto's face brightened for a second, but then fell again as he asked. "What's in it for you?"

"Nothing whatsoever." The third replied smiling. "Anko here has agreed to take you in, if you want to that is." Sarutobi said.

Naruto looked over toward Anko and asked. "Really?"

"Really." Anko replied. Naruto's face split into a huge goofy grin as he jumped up and hugged her practically yelling thankyou over and over again. She hugged him back and then broke the hug to say.

"Well, why don't we get going?" "We've got a lot to do today." She said. Naruto looked at her questioningly but she just smiled. Anko walked over to the third and thanked him again, bowing slightly. He held out his hand and she took it and looked down in suprise to see a wad of money in his hand. He leaned forward and said.

"Why don't you go get him some new clothes?" The third whispered. Naruto, of course, heard this with his heightened hearing and started jumping around smiling like a idiot. The Third and Anko just started laughing.

Naruto and Anko made they're way from the hospital, down the main road looking at the different clothing stores. A lot of people were glaring daggers at the two, but didn't dare do anything with Anko around, though that didn't stop a lot of the stores denying them access.

Eventually they found a store that would sell them clothes, the owner saying. "Bah! I don't care who or what ya are so long as ya pay fer what yer buyin!" Anko did most of the shopping sense Naruto couldn't see. She was having a great time dressing Naruto up in different embarrassing outfits and taking pictures until she finally found one that she liked. She asked Naruto to take a look, so he started gathering chakra then letting it flow again.

Naruto looked down at himself while he could see and liked what he saw. He had a fishnet shirt on underneath a black muscle shirt, with some baggy, but fitting gray/black camouflage pants, and a pair of simple sandals. He looked up at Anko and smiled, saying thanks.

Anko noticed that his eyes still stood out with how they seemingly stared past you, so she looked around for something to cover his eyes with. As she looked around, her eyes fell on a rack of sunglasses. Looking through she found a pair of extremely dark glasses. (A/N Think terminator style.) She placed them on Naruto's head and found they covered his eyes nicely. Anko walked up and paid the owner for the clothes and they walked out.

Anko took Naruto's hand and led him to her house, his new home. It was a two story house with more than enough room for the boy. She brought him inside and took him up to a room that he could have. "Well, here you are, this will be your room." Anko said.

Naruto looked around in awe, he'd never had his own room before. And he had a bed, a closet, window's, it was great. He turned to Anko and said. "Thank you!" And smiled at her.

Anko smiled back and said. "Oh, don't thank me just yet, your still gona earn your keep around here, as long as your living under my house, your going to have chores, and your going to start training in the dojo. Anko said in a mock-strict tone. Naruto stood sharp and said. "Yes mam!" They both stood there for a minute, looking at each other before a corner of Naruto's face started sliding up and Anko's nose scrunched up trying to keep a straight face. They both burst out laughing at the other's stupid face.

"Come on goof." Anko said, wiping her eye slightly. "I'm going to show you the Dojo, I want you to train while I fix us dinner." Naruto stood up, still giggling slightly and nodded, following her out of the room. She led him down the stairs, and another hallway before turning right to open a sliding door that revealed a decent sized room. It had various amounts of training equipment in it, weights, weapons, dummies, and many other things.

Anko walked over to a big dresser and started to dig through it. After a few moments of searching she found a small weight suit. She picked it up and tossed it to Naruto. Naruto heard something moving through the air at him, then it entered the strange dome around him and he could see the imprint of where it was and where it was going in his mind. He jumped to the side and the clothes clanked onto the floor.

"Good reaction time Naruto, now, put those on." Anko ordered.

Naruto nodded and walked over to the clothes, seeing the imprint of them in his head, he bent down and picked up two bracers and put them on, then two leg pieces, and finally, a chest piece. He got them on and started to feel the extra weight pulling him down, but stood as straight as he could, not wanting to seem weak. Anko walked over to him and said. "Ok Naruto, I want you to do as many sit ups, push ups, and squats as you can in that suit. But run around the dojo ten times to get warmed up. After you do the exercises, run 15 laps, then do as many as you can again. Keep doing that until you can't do anymore ok?" Anko asked.

Naruto nodded and started jogging around the dojo. Anko smiled at the boy then left to go start on dinner. Naruto finished his laps and started on the exercises, they were hard in the suit, but he managed to get through them and run again. He managed three sets before he collapsed on the floor, gasping for air. After he laid there for a moment, he undid the straps on the suit and let them hit the floor. He started to drag himself downstairs thinking he'd never been more tired or hungry in his life.

Naruto got downstairs to see Anko pulling some chicken out of the oven and setting it on the stove. He walked into the kitchen and asked if there was anything he could do to help?

Anko turned to look at him and said. "Sure, you can se the table, and how many sets did you get through?" She asked and handed him the plates.

"Three." he replied taking the plates she handed him and walking to the table. Anko was impressed, she hadn't thought he would be able to do it three times, that was an extra fifty pounds and he didn't look to healthy, it semed he had an abnormal amount of stamina. Anko put the chicken on a tray, hen covered it in white rice and took it out to the table and set it down. As she set her own plate Naruto practically attacked the food. Bringing as much up to his mouth as he could at a time and shoving it in. He made it through three pieces before Anko finished her own piece and. After they both ate they were tired after a long day and went to bed.

"Goodnight Nee-san." Naruto yawned.

"Goodnight Naruto. Anko said back, walking to her room and shutting the door.

Naruto got into his room and slid his door shut. He walked over to his bed and jumped in, pulling the covers over him and falling asleep almost instantly. His eyes opened and he was in a dark room. The floor was wet, and pipes were leaking above his head. In front of him stood the gian, wooden cage that had a paper with the word "Seal" on it. From the back of the cage came two, glowing red eyes and a fox like grin underneath them.

"_Hello Naruto, I would like to speak with you_." It said. It moved closer to the bars and Naruto could see it was a giant, nine-tailed fox.

"What are you wanting to talk about?" Naruto asked, hoping he might be able to make a new friend.

"_About us_" The fox replied.

"What about us?" Asked Naruto confused. "Do you want to be friends?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"_BWAHAHAHA_!!" The fox laughed in great rolling breaths. "Why not?" It said. "_You are going to be the only company I have for a great while anyway_. The fox said.

"Cool! I'm Naruto, what's your name?" Naruto asked.

"_You may call me kyuubi_." _The fox said, still chuckling. Now naruto, about what I called you here for_." Kyuubi said, gaining Naruto's attention._" I am going to start teaching you how to fight along with that Anko woman_." Kyuubi said.

"Really!?" Naruto asked, jumping around in joy. "But why do you want to help me?" Naruto asked.

"_Once again, It is something you will not understand until you are older_." The Kyuubi said. _But I want to help make sure you BECOME older and don't die, so im going to begin helping you train and fight_." The kyuubi explained.

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed. "When can we start?" Naruto asked.

"_We're going to start tonight_." Kyuubi said. "_And Don't worry, time travels slower here, so we have plenty of time for you to train and get sleep_. The kyuubi explained. Naruto was as happy as he could ever remember, he had a home, two teachers, and for what felt like the first time family.

The kyuubi formed chakra into the form of another human outside of the cage and started to teach Naruto. The kyuubi wasn't sure why, but he had the feeling he and Naruto were going to be the best of companions...

Ok people, that's the end of the third chapter, The fourth one is going to take place three years later when Naruto turns eight and enters the academy. It has been slow up untill now because i have had to introduce people, describe things, and set the story into motion, it should pick up now. And if anyone has a list of character names that they wouldn't mind sending me, it would be EXTREMELY helpful. Thanks for reading and be sure to Review!


	4. Chapter 4

Hidden strength of Uzumaki: Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry about the really long wait for this chapter guys, i got lost on the road of life and... anyway, some stuff happened, took awhile to get the computer up and running, but here it is, with no further adue, the fourth chapter (may be revised at a later time.)

It had been three months sense Anko had brought Naruto into her home, and she couldn't remember having had a better time in life. There was never a dull moment after Naruto stopped being shy and flinching around her loud, boisterous self. Naruto was a hard worker and a good kid from what she could see, he was also very kind and caring.

flashback

Anko and Naruto had been walking back from the Hokage's tower, Naruto insisting on visiting the old man he saw as a grandfather. It had been a good time, Naruto telling Sarutobi about his time with Anko, and Anko giving her opinion on Naruto..

" He's a loud mouth, good for nothing brat! Anko said teasingly as Naruto just grinned. "But he's a good kid." Anko finished.

After having left the tower, Anko and Naruto had been walking home when Naruto, with his heightened sense, heard someone crying a block or so away, it sounded like someone was being harassed. Naruto took off in a second to help whoever it was. Anko yelling behind him asking what was wrong.

As Naruto heard the crying intensify, he bent down on all fours and ran full out, something he would not normally have done in the village for fear of the villagers seeing, but he didn't care at the moment, and his speed doubled when he ran like this.

Naruto turned into an alley and more sounds caught his ears along with scents. Along with crying, it sounded like a girl, he could hear a few others teasing the girl, they smelled like boys. Naruto heard someone shout, then a sound like a fist impacting flesh, and the crying fell silent. Naruto then ran full speed. Small blurs coming into his chakra dome and leaving blurry imprints in his mind.

'Trash can, wall, wagon, THERE THEY ARE!' Naruto thought to himself, he focused his chakra so that he could see, letting it flow, he saw three boys around his age in a halfmoon around a girl who was unconscious on the ground, before they could do anything else Naruto yelled:

"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU BASTARDS!"

And running full force rammed one boy, knocking him into the other two and over. One of the boys got back up, he was scruffy looking, with blue hair and grey eyes. The other two got up as well, and they recircled them. The grey eyed boy said.

"Your going to regret having gotten in my way!" And he lunged at Naruto, aiming a punch for his head. Anko had been teaching him taijustsu, along with the Kyubbi's training. So as he heard, and saw the imprint of the punch in his mind, he knew to just keep taking a step back each punch untill his back was at a wall. Grey eyes smirked.

"No where to run now!" He said as he brought his fist back and threw his weight into his punch. Naruto simply side stepped it and let the boy hit the wall. Naruto heard a sharp crack and was sure it was the boys knuckle or wrist breaking. The boy screamed and fell backward, clutching his arm. Then Naruto added insult to injury when he said. "I MADE him do that without even TOUCHING him, unless you guys want to get beaten badly, you should leave and never pick on anyone again!' He yelled, causing the other boys to run off.

About the time the boys were running out of the mouth of the alley, Anko came running in past them, ready to beat the living daylights out of him for not stopping to wait on her when she saw he was at the end of the alley, leaning someone up against the wall. She ran over to see what happened.

When Anko stopped next to him he started to explain what happened, as he finished, the girl began to stir and They both looked at her. She had purplish hair, with white, seemingly pupilis eyes. She was wearing a simple white training kimono with a mesh shirt under it.

"What's your name? Naruto asked.

Hinata was starting to stir, hearing voices, her head hurt though, and she was cold, like she'd been lying on the ground for hours. Someone set her up against the wall and she opened her eyes, focusing on the two in front of her. There was a young boy looking at her from behind a pair of dark sunglasses that made him look rather goofy, he had blonde hair and was wearing camouflage pants and a black t-shirt over a mesh training shirt.

There was also a woman, with brownish hair and purple hair, she was wearing a mini-skirt with a training shirt and a overcoat. Hinata foucsed back on the boy who was speaking. "What's your name?" He asked, grinning slightly.

"My..na..name is...Hi..nata. She said, stuttering."

"I'm Naruto." Naruto said. "How are you feeling?" He asked, slightly worried about the girl.

"Im f..f...fine, my hea..d h...rt's a litt...le and im cold, but oth..er th..an tha..t im f..ine. Hinata answered shakily.

Then her eyes widened some and she looked around frantically. "Where are those other b..boys at?! She asked, slightly afraid. Narutos grin just got wider and he said.

"Don't worry about those jerks, I ran them off while you we're out, and calm down, you don;t have to be so nervous around us." Naruto said.

Hinata looked at the boy with nothing short of wonder, he'd saved her from them without even knowing who she was! Hardly anyone was ever nice to her, her family looked down upon her, thinking she was weak, as did other kids. (A/N they're five years old, I don't want to hear any flames about how saving her from kids is something wondrous)

Hinata took a breath, calming herself, before continuing to speak. "Thank you for helping me Naruto-kun. She said, surprising herself when she didn't stutter.

"Anytime Hinata-chan! He yelled. Anko smacked him in the head saying:

"Naruto, you just helped her out of a beating, you keep that up and your going to cause her to go deaf. Anko scalded.

"Sorry Hinata."

Naruto said, grinning sheepishly while scratching his neck. An idea hit Naruto then.

"Hey Hinata, want to be my friend? Naruto asked, hoping for a yes. Aside from Sarutobi, Anko, Ayame, and her father, he had never had any friends in the village before.

Hinata seemed to perk up at this and nodded. "Sure Naruto-kun." She said. Naruto crac ked a wider grin at this, looking as if his face had been split in half left to right.

Anko decided that, along with new friends, came the opportunity of teasing said friends and her little brother.

"Aww." anko said enthusiastically. "You have a very cute girlfriend Naruto! She said, causing both the children to blush furiously, though you couldn't tell as much with Naruto because of the glasses.

"Ahhh shudup nee-San. Naruto said embarrassed while Hinata just poked her fingers together.

(A/n I know a little about Japanese suffix's, but not a lot, if you guys want to tell me some basic's or if im using these correctly, I would appreciate it.)

Anko had an idea. "Hey why don't we go get some ice-cream? My treat." Anko said. Both the kids cracked a smile at the thought of ice-cream. Naruto held out his hand to help Hinata up, who accepted it, blushing slightly, and they headed off from an ice-cream parlor.

As Hinata and Anko went inside, Naruto just waited outside on a bench.

"Ano, Anko, why isn't Naruto-kun coming inside with us?" Hinata asked. Anko hadn't thought about that when she suggested the idea and thought about how to answer it. She decided that the truth would be best for the simple fact that it wasn't really a subject you could lie about.

"Naruto isn't allowed in the store Hinata. Anko said, sighing slightly. "And im afraid I can't tell you why, you will have to wait until your older." Anko said, beating Hinata to the question..

Hinata looked down at the floor sadly, trying to figure out why someone as nice as Naruto wasn't allowed in? They got they're ice-cream, with an extra cone for Naruto who was sitting outside humming happily to himself. The two girls walked back to Naruto and they continued to walk aimlessly through the town for an hour or so when Hinata said that she needed to be going home soon.

Naruto smiled at his new friend and asked. "Hey hinata chan, want to play again tomorrow?"

Sure Naruto-kun! She said happily, looking forward to another day with Naruto. They split ways as Naruto and Anko left for they're house and Hinata left for hers. On the way home Naruto had to endure countless sarcastic remarks about him and Hinata from Anko. After going home and training with Anko, Naruto climbed the stairs and went to bed. AS Naruto drifted to sleep, he found himself in front of the fox's cage again.

"Hiya Fur ball!" Naruto said, teasing the kyubbi a little, they had seemed to become pretty good friends over the past few months, and they would pass insults at each other occasionally.

"Hello Brat, are you ready to begin?" the kyubbi asked.

"Yes Kyubbi-sensei." Naruto said, bowing .

"All right, today I'm going to start teaching you how to fight standing on all fours instead of just your legs." The kyubbi said. "This will give you greater balance, strength, and speed in combat." The fox said, telling Naruto the benefits.

"The idea of the style is to flow with your opponents attack." The Kyubbi said, forming three chakra clones, two standing, and one on all fours. Kyubbi clicked a claw on the floor of his cage and one of the standing clones attacked the other, punching for the face. The standing clone that got hit was knocked back a few feet and laid out on his back, making a sickening "thud" noise when it hit.

The clone then attacked the clone that was on all fours. AS the clone attacked the clone on all fours ducked under the punch and shot forward pushing with all four of his legs to send the attacking clone flying.

"See the difference?" Kyubbi asked Naruto.

"Yeah!" Naruto said, impressed. "I will also teach you how to grow claws at will with your chakra, they will come in handy with this style." The kyubbis said. And with Than the Kyubbi began to instruct Naruto...

Time skip, three years later, entering the academy

It was Naruto's first day at the academy and he was pumped, he had remained friends with Hinata over the years, the two were nearly inseparable Naruto had changed slightly, he still wore the same pants and mesh shirt, but with a dark orange zip up hoody over the mesh shirt.

"Excited about our first day Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked grinning ear to ear at his friend.

"Yes Naruto-kun. Hinata said a bit timidly.

Spending some much time with Naruto had helped her get over a few of her nervous habits, like stuttering, but she still poked her fingers together and things like that. Her hair had grown a bit longer, though not much, She now wore (the exact same outfit as in the anime/manga) except she also wore a bracelet on her left hand Naruto had got for her 6th birthday.

The two walked onto the academy grounds and headed for there classroom, they had looked out and gotten the same teacher, A chunnin with a distinguishing scar running across his nose, his name was Iruka. Naruto and Hinata strode through the hallways until they came to there room, as they entered they founf most of the class was already there talking amongst themselves. Neither Hinata or Naruto knew many of the other kids much, so they just went and sat in the back of the classroom next to a very lazy looking boy with pineapple hair. Net to him was a rather round boy, snacking on a bag of chips not paying much attention to anything. Naruto grinned at the two and said. "Hi, IM Naruto Uzumaki and this Is Hinata Hyuuga" Naruto said, introducing themselves.

I'm Nara Shikamaru", the pineapple haired boy said. "And this is my friend choji" He pointed at the round boy next to him who smiled and waved. Naruto was about to make conversation with the two when they're teacher walked into the room and started calling names. After roll call was done he began giving an overview of what they were going to learn, how the class schedules were run and many other things Hinata had to prod him in the side to keep him awake and listening for.

When lunch finally came he couldn't wait to get outside of the boring classroom. He and Hinata found a nice sized tree with a swing on it too sit under and eat lunch. Shikamru and Chouji came over and joined them. They had all been talking when another boy came over to the group. HE had blue hair and grey eyes.

Naruto thought for a moment, thinking he looked familiar, but couldn't remember where he knew him from, so, Naruto decided to try and make friends. "Hey, Im Naruto Uzumaki, this is Hinata Hyuuga" Hinata smiled shyly and waved at her introduction. "Nara Shikamaru." Shikamaru just yawned and muttered something about troublsome as he waved. "And Chouji." Naruto said as Chouji grinned and nodded his head slightly. After introducing his friends." Naruto asked

"What's your name?" The boy spoke in a arrogant voice saying.

"My name is Breger. He said, sneering at all of them. Naruto, oblivious to this, asked if he wanted to be friends?

Breger Just looked at him like he was stupid and said. "Why would I want to be friends with an idiot, a lazy ass, a fat ass, and a weakling?" Breger taunted, pointing at each of them individually.

Naruto stood up, now remembering full well who he was. "Hey, you take that back! Naruto shouted, gaining most of the students attention. "I don't care if you insult me but you won't Insult my friends! Naruto snarled.

"What are you going to do about it?" Breger asked? Trying to bait him into a fight. He got what he wanted as Naruto fitted his sunglasses to his head and dropped into a fighting stance...on all fours? Were some of the thoughts around the yard

"Naruto-Kun. Stop!." Hinata yelled trying to get his attention.

Breger also slipped into a stance, thinking the Blonde an idiot for fighting him, and even dumber for using such a stance.

"Why don't you listen to your bitch of a girlfriend?" Breger jeered. At this Naruto got pissed and charged him on all fours, looking as if he were nothing more than a blackish orange blur. He rammed his head straight into Breger stomach, knocking the unsuspecting student back a few feet.

Breger got back up and slipped back into his fighting stance looking pissed. Breger ran at Naruto punching and kicking, but hitting nothing but air every time. He finally landed a punch on Naruto's face, smiling triumphantly.

Untill naruto grabed his hand and planted his right foot in his stomach. As Naruto fell, draging Breger down with him, he pushed up with his right foot, sending breger high into the air as Naruto rolled over backwards onto his feet. As Breger came back down Naruto waited for him to fall. When he came within reach, Naruto jumped up and threw a punch into his stomach, causing him to stop abruptly in the air on Naruto's fist.

The boy passed out as all the oxygen was knocked from his body and naruto let him fall to the ground with a loud thud. Naruto walked back to his friends, all of whom we're looking at him in shock. The fight hadn't lasted a minute and Naruto walked away with nothing more than his sunglasses broken.

Hinata was shocked because Naruto had just stood up to defend her honor, upon realizing this she blushed furiously.

Shikamaru was shocked at the stance Naruto had used, he'd never seen anything like it before, and he used it to great effect.

And last but not least, Chouji was shocked because Naruto had his eye's closed and was navigationg his way back through the crowd with ease.

Naruto sat back down amongst his friends with a frown, he could feel an unasked question in the air, something all of them were wandering about, but he didn't know what it was.

Chouji finally spoke up, asking what was on all of there minds sense he sat back down.

"Naruto...why are your eye's closed? Chouji asked curiously. Naruto hadn't been expecting this and thought quickly, trying to think of a way to avoid the question.

"Uhh...when I got hit in the face and my glasses broke I think some of the glass got in my eyes." Naruto said, lying his way out of revealing his secret. Hinata was horrified. Naruto-Kun! We have to get you to the hospital! she practically yelled and grabbed his hand, practically dragging him away. Shikamaru and Chouji got up and hurriedly followed, worried about there new friend.

After seeing they're reaction, Naruto instantly knew that lying had been a bad idea, so he stopped Hinata, and allowed Chouji And Shikamaru to catch up. He smelled the air, seeing if there was anyone close by, after detecting no one with his nose or ears, he brought them all together and asked

" can you guys keep a secret?" They all nodded, wanting to know what was wrong with they're friends.

Okay then, aside from the Hokage and my onee-san, you guys are the only ones to know about this." Naruto said as he opened his eyes. They all looked at thim funny for a minute, wandering what the big deal was, before Shikamaru finally realized what's wrong.

"Naruto...your blind?" Shikamaru asked, earning a gasp from Hinata and a slightly gaping mouth from Chouji. Naruto grinned sadly and nodded. "That's why I wear the glasses and I was keeping my eye's closed, but could you guys please not tell anyone?" Naruto asked?

But...Naruto-kun, Why? Shouldn't we at least let Iruka-sensei know? Hinata said, on the virge of tears for her best friend's misfortune. Naruto thought for a moment before agreeing with Hinata.

"I guess I can tell Iruka-sensei, But just keep this between us, please? Naruto asked his new friends. They all nodded, which Naruto could see due to his chakra dome, but decided to play stupid with them for fun.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Naruto asked, feigning ignorance. They all nodded again, slightly agitated.

"Guys...I cant hear your heads shaking ya know?" Naruto said, grinning like a fox.

They all looked horrified and started apologizing up and down but Naruto just laughed.

"It's allright guys, I knew you said yes, I actually CAN hear your head's shaking" Naruto grinned even wider when they started laughing along with him." The bell then rang, signaling the end of class and the four friends walked in and took they're seats in the back. Hinata, shikamaru and Chouji snickering slightly as Iruka yelled at Naruto for beating Breger in a fight. After class was done with the four hung back to tell Iruka about Naruto's Disability.

At hearing this Naruto didn't believe it at first, but when Naruto showed him his eye's he was slightly dumbfounded. "How are you able to fight?" Iruka asked disbelievingly.

"I have my ways." Naruto grinned, turning and leaving with his friends. As they walked down the main road They walked past Naruto's Favorite Ramen stand, where one of his friends, ayame, was working on cleaning the bar. She saw Naruto and called him over.

Hey Ayame, what's up? Naruto asked.

Just working as usual Naruto, who are your friends? Ayame asked.

Naruto lit up a bit as he said: You know Hinata, This is Nara Shikamaru, and Chouji. Naruto said, pointing to each of his friends in turn.

"We just got off from our first day atht the academy!" Naruto said excitedly.

Ayame's father had been listening the whole time and said. Oh really Naruto,. Come on in, we'll treat you and your friends as a celebration of your first day at the academy. The old man said.

Naruto's stomach could be hear growling a few feet away which gave everyone a good laugh. Thanks old man! Naruto yelled, grabbing his favorite stool and motioning for the others to follow. They all said there thanks and started eating. Talking a little bit here and there while they ate. After they were finished it was getting late and they all headed for home. Shikamaru and Choui left for there houses, leaving Hinata and Naruto alone. The two began walking, talking and laughing the whole way. They finally got to the road where they were they would split up and They smiled at each other before heading for home.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with the story, however the storyline is mine! (Goes for the last two chapters as well) Well, all you NaruHina fans should be happy, due to the lack of votes, I decided to go with a NaruHina (favorite couple) I got only two votes one for NaruxAnko, and another for NaruxKurenai, I have nothing against these two pairs, but Anko is already like Naruto's sister/mother, and As for Kurenai, I already have plans for her (insert evil laugh here) . Also, im sorry about the mistakes in the fourth chapter, and also about he writing seeming kinda rushed, im going to go back and fix that.

Chapter 5

Naruto waited for Hinata about a block or so from her house, this was one of the busiest parts of the village, so when many villagers passed him with hateful glares or insults, he just sat there and endured them, After what seemed like ages, Naruto caught scent of Hinata.

Hinata was running into the village from her house, slightly late, but otherwise on time. She came around the corner to find Naruto on his usual Milk crate, smiling at her as she got closer.

"Good morning Naruto-kun." She said, catching her breath.

"Morning Hinata-chan." Naruto said, grinning at her. Naruto gave her a moment to catch her breath before asking if she wanted to get going. Hinata nodded her head and the two left the street corner, headed for the academy.

Hinata had never really taken the main road with Naruto in the morning before, he had always insisted they take the back ways, but they were running late on time this morning so they had to cut through town. Passing through some of the busier streets, Hinata noticed that there was a near five foot radius of space that the villagers left around Naruto, no one getting near him. Looking around, Hinata saw that a lot of them were glaring angrily. She thought they were glaring at her at first, then she noticed that they were looking past her at Naruto, who had his head down looking at his feet like he'd never seen them before. Naruto looked tense, like he was ready to start running at any minute.

After a few minutes of this the crowd thinned out as they were almost at the academy. Once they had gotten out of the crowd, Naruto had returned to his normal, loud self. Waving at people enthusiastically and saying hi to a few others. Hinata wanted to stop him and ask what had happened back in the village, but they were almost late for class as it was, she'd have to wait to question her friend until lunch.

Today was the day the class would be learning how to throw shuriken and kunai. Hinata had been wandering how Naruto was going to do it sense he was blind. Hinata's turn came up, she hit 3/10 times. Not bad considering it was a first time. Naruto's turn came up after her. He threw his kunai, not even coming close to hitting the target. (Naruto can see by focusing his chakra and letting it flow into his eyes, but he can only see about 20 foot in each direction.) Many laughed at him for this, a few exceptions being the friends who knew he was blind and the usually quiet Shino.

"Wow, that was awesome Naruto! Can you teach me how to suck so bad?"

Breger Sneered at him as he roughly pushed past Naruto to take his turn. Breger's newly acquired fangirls laughed hysterically at this, as if it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard.. Breger acted like an ass towards everyone one for a few reasons, reason 1: HE was wealthy. Reason 2:He was the supposed "best in the class". Reason 3: He liked to piss people off, and didn't ind what it made him look like because he was still handsome enough for the girls to like him. This pissed Naruto off so he readied some more shuriken to throw. Breger threw his first shuriken and naruto heard it whistle through the wind. Naruto threw his own and deflected Bregers from hitting the target. Everyone was stunned for a moment. "How did he do that?" they wondered. Breger was furious.

"That was pure luck. "Breger said as he flung another star, only to be deflected yet again by one of Naruto's. Breger got pissed and flung another shuriken as hard as he could, which was deflected before it even got halfway to the target. At this point Breger threw a tantrum, flinging shuriken this way and that, missing the target completely on his own.

"Well Breger, I don't think I need to teach you how to suck, you seem to be doing just fine on your own." Naruto smirked. Shikamaru, one of the few people there smart enough to realize what Naruto had done, broke out into laughter, earning some glares from Bregers fan girls, but he didn't care. Naruto just stood there, pulling on his usual grin. Breger, seeing what had happened, lost it and flung a shuriken at Naruto himself. Naruto hadn't expected Breger to be stupid enough to do that, but he was wrong. Naruto may only be eight, but when your teachers are a ages old demon fox and a seemingly crazed Jounin, you learned to at least dodge thrown objects.

Naruto whipped out a kunai to deflect the projectile, waiting for it to come within reach. But to his horror, Hinata jumped in front of it, taking it to her shoulder with a yelp of pain. Naruto quickly dropped his kunai and caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Why?" was all he could think to ask.

"Why did you do tat Hinata, most people want me dead, you could have been killed doing that."

"I couldn't stand it if you got hurt and I could have done something Naruto-kun." She said, clutching at her shoulder.

"What a touching moment." Breger said, trying to keep his cool, everyone was looking at him in disbelief, not believing he had actually done that. Even his fangirls didn't approve of this.

Naruto glared up at him, his anger rising.

"Say anything again, and I will PERSONALLY MAKE YOU REGRET IT." Naruto said, venom dropping off every word and killing intent rolling off of him. Breger looked horrified and shut his mouth, looking at him wide eyed in fear. Naruto called over to shikamaru.

Shikamaru walked over, bending down next to him. "Yeah Naruto?" He asked,

"Im going to run Hinata-chan to the hospital. Naruto said. Can you tell Iruka-sensei what happened?"

Shikamaru nodded. Naruto picked Hinata up bridal style and started to run for the hospital, cutting through town again to get to the hospital as fast as he could. He knew instantly this was a mistake, the villagers saw that he was carrying a girl and were instantly in an uproar. They started throwing baskets, bricks, rocks, anything they could get there hands on at him. He bent over Hinata, trying his best to protect her from what was meant for him. As he ran he saw a tall, stern looking man with the same eyes as Hinata. He ran to him, trying to keep Hinata from getting hit with anything.

Hyugga Hiashi had been walking from the Hokage's office after a rather boring council meeting about D-ranked missions. As he walked onto the main road he saw the villagers were in an uproar about something. He activated his byakugan, looking through the crowd until he spotted a boy of about eight, running with a girl about the same age in his arms, trying desperately to keep her from getting hit with bricks and other projectiles. His eyes widened when he recognized the girl as his daughter Hinata. He was about to run through the crowd to kill the boy when he spotted him and ran for him.

As The boy got close, Hiashi could see he was crying and that his daughter had been knocked out when something hit her head.

"PLEASE SIR, YOUR IN HINATA'S FAMILY RIGHT!?"

The boy yelled frantically, trying to make himself heard above the crowd. Hiashi nodded, looking at him in slight shock.

"HERE, TAKE HER TO THE HOSPITAL!" The boy yelled again, more frantic as the villagers were closing in. He shoved Hinata into his arms and turned and ran as fast as he could, the lynch mob following after in hot pursuit. Hiashi looked down at his daughter in shock to see she had a shuriken sticking out of her shoulder. He turned and ran immediately for the hospital, Hinata safely in his hands.

'I hope that boy will be safe until I can get to him.' Hiashi thought to himself as he burst into the hospital.

With Naruto

Naruto was running as fast as he could away from the mob, there were apparently a few shinobi in the mob as well, because he kept having to dodge kunai and shuriken, among several other nameless projectile. Naruto turned left, running hard, and to his horror he ran out of chakra for his eyes, he couldn't see. He still had the kyyubi's chakra dome, but that wouldn't be able to tell him where he was. (Think of the dome like a radar, it detects things and tells you about where it is, good for things like a shuriken buzzing at you or something.) Naruto kept running, hearing the crowd still behind him, and ran straight into a dead end. He turned around, back to the wall as he felt the crowd approach. He was sure he probably wouldn't get out of this alive.

"This is the last time you terrorize anyone in this village demon spawn!" A voice rang out from the crowd, egging them all on.

Naruto knew it was pointless to argue, so, he sprinted at the crowd, gaining as much speed as possible before plowing into them, trying to run his way through. This worked for a little bit, getting him through a few waves of villagers, but then they got over the initial shock of what he'd done and started to try and block his path. Naruto felt a pain in his back, but kept moving, knowing if he slowed down he would die. Naruto felt much more ain everywhere, his hear, legs, arms, stomach. The villagers were kicking him, stabbing him, doing whatever they could to hurt him.

Naruto could finally see the end of the alley, he pushed through a few more villagers and got through. As he started to try and run he found he couldn't. He looked down, horrified to find one of his legs we're broken. Naruto tried to drag himself away, but a hand caught his ankle, pulling him back to the crowd. As he was almost dragged back in. Naruto thought that he would have liked to see Hinata one last time as strong voice called out "HEAVENLY SPIN!" and a great blast of chakra enhanced wind blew through the alley, separating Naruto and his attackers. He felt himself being picked up, struggling weakly against the person.

"Calm yourself child, im not going to harm you." A man spoke. Naruto recognized the man's voice, it was the person he had given Hinata to too take to the hospital.

"Is...Hinata...ok?" Naruto choked out, barely able to breath.

"She's going to be fine thanks to you young man, and im taking you to the hospital as well." Hiashi said, looking down to find that Naruto had already passed out. Hiashi took to the roof's, running hard He sensed someone join him on the roofs and jumped in time to avoid a shuriken. HE spun in midair, grabbing it and throwing it back at the offending nin. The ninja jumped to avoid the projectile, as Hiashi had wanted. He landed on the other roof, and kicked off at once, flying at the ninja, the nin, already being in the air, wasn't able to dodge the roundhouse kick to the head Hiashi gave him. Hiashi pushed off the man, back in the direction of the hospital.

Hiashi arrived at the hospital with no further misadventures, bursting in and demanding an emergency room for the boy. He laid the boy on a stretcher some stand-bye nurses provided and they carried him off to an emergency room. Looking closer at the boy, Hiashi couldn't believe he was still alive. He had numerous shuriken and kunai sticking out of his back from where ninja had pursued him in the crowd. His right leg was broken, as was his left wrist. He was a mass of bruises and welts. A sharp stick stuck out of chest near his lung, what looked like the remains of a broken broom handle. He followed the boy back to the room and saw that he was inside before returning to his daughters room.

He looked in on her, expecting her to be resting peacefully, but instead he found that she was sitting up in bed, a bandage wrapped around her shoulder and head from the shuriken and rock that hit her. She looked over at her father, looking somewhat confused, almost scared.

"Father, where's Naruto?" She asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" Hiashi asked his daughter. She nodded. His eyes narrowed. 'So it was the kyyubi container, damned biased villagers.' He thought to himself.

Hiashi thought for a moment about what to tell his daughter, and decided, the truth was probably best. Not the WHOLE truth, but, a lesser version of it.

"Naruto got hurt on his way here with you, he is currently undergoing surgery." Hiashi said.

Her eyes widened and she leaped out of bed.

"Where is he?!" Hinata demanded. Hiashi had never seen her daughter like this before, so, he showed her where he was. They were standing outside the door when The third hokage walked out. Hiashi bowed, but hinata just started bombarding him with questions.

"Is Naruto ok!? What happened?! Can I see him?!" Hiashi scolded Hinata about her manners as Sarutobi sighed.

"Im sorry Miss Hyugga, but...(don't ya just hate them cliffies?)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the storyline and some of the original characters however are mine.

Hey People, sorry about the INCREDIBLY LONG wait, but I finally got some free time to update, so, enjoy! (The chapters after this should get better, as a lot of the setup has now been put out of the way.)

Chapter 6:

"Is Naruto ok!? What happened?! Can I see him?!" Hiashi scolded Hinata about her manners as Sarutobi sighed.

"Im sorry Miss Hyugga, but, Naruto is still in surgery at the moment, he was hurt rather badly trying to get you here." Sarutobi said.

"And Hiashi, thank you for rushing Naruto here, had it not been for you, the boy wouldn't have survived." Sarutobi said. Upon hearing this, Hinata did what came natural to her in these types of situations, she fainted.

"Hinata!" Hiashi yelped, startled. 'Just how much to these two care about each other?' Hiashi thought to himself as he picked her up. The double swinging doors to the hall burst open, showing a pissed off, but worried looking Anko. With a down-trodden Iruka right behind her.

Anko was ready to explode and collapse at the same time. She was wanting to KILL the villagers for what they did to Naruto. But at the same time, she was near a breakdown over what state Naruto was in.

Iruka was riddled with guilt about what happened. First one of his students had gotten hurt in a simple training exercise while he was in the bathroom. THEN the student he saw as a son had almost been killed trying to get the injured Hyugga to the hospital. He couldn't believe he'd let things get so bad so quickly.

Both Anko and Iruka spotted the Hokage at the same time and simultaneously yelled: "WHERE's NARUTO!?"

They looked at each other and said: "who are you?"

I'm Iruka, Naruto's Instructor. Iruka said. Anko's eyes grew to slits as she yelled at the Chunnin.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?! SENDING NARUTO TO TAKE A STUDENT YOU SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT HERE!! YOU PROBABLY DID IT KNOWING THIS WOULD HAPPEN!" Anko screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Iruka. Sarutobi was about to step in to defend the chunnin when he received a shock. Quiet, calm Iruka started yelling back.

Iruka was pissed, he didn't care who this women was, but he cared for Naruto more than most knew, and accusing him of something like this was like saying he tried to assassinate the Hokage.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ACCUSING ME OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?" Iruka bellowed, causing Anko to take a small step back, uncertain of what he meant.

"I CONSIDER NARUTO A SON, I WOULD NEVER INTENTIONALLY PUT HIM IN HARMS WAY! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?" The Chunnin screamed back, livid with anger.

Anko now had a very bad case of foot in the mouth disease. She hadn't realized what the boy meant to him and was now slightly ashamed of herself for accusing him.

"Im Anko, Naruto's adoptive mother..." Anko trailed off, waiting for more screaming that she deserved. Iruka seemed to deflate a bit at this, he knew she was probably just worried. Instead of screaming at each other, they both apologized.

"Gomensai." they said together, surprising each other. Sarutobi chuckled at there antics. The two, remembering where they were and who was watching them flushed slightly with embarrassment.

"Excuse us Hokage-sama." Anko said, bowing to Sarutobi and Hiashi. Anko noticed Hinata and gasped, running to the girl.

"What happened to Hinata?!" Anko asked Hiashi.

"Well, im not to sure of that, I was walking from Hokage-Sama's office towards home when the boy, Naruto, ran up to me with her in his arms and shoved her on me, asking me to take her to the hospital as he drew the crowd away from us. " Hiashi explained, slightly curious.

"How do you know my daughter Miss...?" "Anko." She finished for him.

"Hinata is one of Naruto's closest friends, they're normally joined at the hip, im surprised you hadn't met him before this." Anko said.

"I see." Hiashi replied, thinking he was going to have to talk to this child. After a few ours of waiting during which Hinata finally came to the emergency sign above the door let out a soft "ping" letting them all know the surgery was done. A rather bloody doctor emerged from the double doors looking slightly worst for wear but happy none the less.

"Well, I can't say he wasn't in very bad condition, but he will make a full recovery." The doctor said, smiling. Everyone let out a collective sigh at hearing this. "Is he conscious?" Sarutobi asked. "No, he isn't, however if you want to go in and see him you may, just remain quiet as he needs his rest." The doctor said, opening the door for them.

Sarutobi led the group into the room, followed by a concerned looking Hiashi carrying his daughter with Anko and Iruka bringing up the rear. Upon seeing Naruto Anko let out a horrified sob and sank too the floor in tears. Iruka bent down and brought her into a hug, letting her cry on his shoulder. Hiashi looked away from the sight as his daughter just stared at Naruto with tears in her eyes. Sarutobi visually blanched at the sight.

Naruto was hooked up to several different machines monitoring his health. His left leg and right arm were both in a cast, though it looked like they were already bled through. His torso had been bandaged several times, though what you could see was black and green from bruising. Two pieces of tape leading up and over his shoulders showed he most likely had bandages on his back from wear the kunai and shuriken had hit him. His face was covered in blood, right up to his usual blonde hair being matted down to his head.

Hiashi looked at the boy again, wondering how he could have been strong enough to withstand a beating of that magnitude. Hinata walked over to Naruto and sat down on a stool, grabbing his less injured hand in hers and crying for him.

Naruto's mind scape ------------------

Naruto found himself in the endless halls that were his mind again. He was standing before the cage of the fox demon wandering if he was alive or dead, when an oddly tranquil voice fluttered through the room. "_**Come here Naruto**_." the voice said, resonating from the cage. "Kyubbi-sensei?" Naruto asked. The voice hadn't sounded like that of the great tailed demon's, it had actually sounded like a woman's voice. _**"Yes Naruto, I will not harm you, nor lie to you anymore**_." The Kyubbi said. Naruto approached the cage to find a woman rather than the giant fox he usually saw on the other side. She had a very dark skin tone, with firey red hair. Her eyes were also red and slitted, a pair of fox ears topped her head, with nine tails sticking out behind her. She wore a red komono that showed her figure, but wasn't revealing.

"We have much to discuss Naruto, so please make yourself at home." The kyubbi said. Naruto sat down on the floor, still not sure what to expect. "Kyubbi-sensei, I thought you were a boy fox?" Naruto asked. Kyubbi laughed slightly and said."That is one of the things we will discuss Naruto, so I guess we can begin with that." Naruto sat a little straighter to show he was paying attention and kyubbi continued. "Well Naruto, I usually do not trust humans for anything other than treachery and deceit, so I normally only talk to humans in my transformed state to throw them of and intimidate them." Kyubbi explained.

"Well, if you don't like humans, why are you talking to me like this kyubbi-sensei?" Naruto asked. "Well kit, to be honest, you proved you were different today doing all you did for Hinata." Kyubbi explained, smiling at Naruto. " Not everyone would have done what you did to ensure she got to the hospital, so I decided you were worthy of seeing me like this, and possibly becoming my family Kyubbi explained. Naruto's eyes widened in shock at this. (Just because he can't see dosent mean his eyes don't not make up part of his facial expressions.) "What do you mean part of your family?"

Kyubbi sighed slightly and started to explain. "_**You see, I believe you may be worthy enough to inherit my kitsune blood if you wish to Naruto**_." Kyubbi explained. "This isn't offered to just anyone and everyone is it?" Naruto asked, realizing that this was a way of honoring him for the kyubbi. "_**No Naruto, as a matter of fact, you would probably be the first person in millenia to be offered this**_." Kyubbi replied. "_**Accepting this gift will make you my son, and you will inherit certain kitsune abilities and traits such as an affinity for fire and fox ears and tails that the Hinata girl would probably find cute.**_" Kyubbi teased, causing naruto to turn a shade of red.

After Naruto got over his embarrassment, he smiled a real smile and said. "I would be honored to be your son, but, I will not abandon Anko. Naruto said, giving her a serious face. Kyubbi giggled at his scowl and replied. "_**Then you'll have to ka-san's**_." Naruto smiled at this and said. "Ok then, I accept to be your son." Kyubbi smiled and said. "_**Come here Naruto, you must add your name to the family tree in order to become my son**_." Kyubbi said as she held her hand out and a scroll materialized in it. She opened it and showed it to Naruto. "_**Sign here in your blood and you will officially be part of the kitsune clan.**_" Kyubbi said. Naruto bit his thumb and signed his name in a slot on the scroll. Kyubbi smiled and pushed some of her chara into the slot. Naruto started to feel sleepy and feel to the ground. "_**Don't worry Naruto, your just becoming part of the clan, you'll be surprised when you wake up. **_Kyubbi said. Naruto nodded and fell asleep, dreaming about a certain white eyed girl.

Back in the hospital room-------------------

Everyone had finally calmed down enough to start talking with each other, trying to figure out what to do from there. Iruka explained what happened to the others after what Shikamaru told him. Anko was furious, as was Iruka sense he had temporarily forgotten what had happened over worrying about Naruto. Hinata had cried herself to sleep next to Naruto while she was still holding his hand. Sarutobi was talking to Hiashi about what had happened on bringing the boy to the hospital and what should be done to protect him.

As everyone was finally beggining to settle down a giant swirl of orange/red chakra shot up from the seal on Naruto's Stomach, jolting Hinata out of her sleep and everyone else out of there conversations. The chakra flew up into the air and then shot into naruto's body. His wounds started to heal rapidly, muscles stitching back together, bones mending, and flesh patching over. Two foxy ears sprouted ontop of Naruto's head, followed by three bright red foxtails with white tips growing in. The chakra faded away and Naruto's breathing seemed to be coming much easier. His eye's flicked open and he sat up. Smelling everyone who was present, Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly and gave out a lazy. "Yo."

Everyone's reactions were varied. Anko who was furthest away, looked at naruto dumbfounded, eyes wide. Iruka's mouth was hanging open, trying to figure out what exactly just happened. Hiashi had activated his byakugan, searching for a genjutsu. Sarutobi's right eyebrow twitched slightly, having been reminded of a certain lazy, one-eyed ANBU captain. There was a shrill shriek of. "Naruto!" As Hinata latched onto him in a hug.

Naruto, you have some explaining to do...Sarutobi sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter :7

Hey there everyone, here's the next chapter, hope ya enjoy it, also, I feel like I forgot something in this chapter, so, it may end up being revised, if you see anything out of place, please tell me, I re-read it three times and can't figure out what's off about it, Thanks, read and review! Also, sorry this chapter is kinda short, but i had to cut it off so that it wasn't to big, and so tha the next xhapter was a decent length.

"Naruto, you have some explaining to do..."Sarutobi sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon.

"Umm...well, what do you want me to begin with?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe your new...appearance?" Hiashi asked, truly curious over what had happened. He had heard that demons were supposed to be particularly evil, blood hungry, beasts. Naruto, well, Naruto seemed like a goofy eight year old kid who'd had a bad life.

"Well, I got the fox ears and tails from kyuubi, but just because I got them from her doesn't make me a demon." '_**Well, not a fox demon anyway.'**_ kyuubi said. 'Kyuubi?' Naruto thought. _**Yes Naruto, but you not being a demon, isn't entirely true, nor is it entirely bad. You see, you have inherited fox demon blood, thus, the ears and tail. BUT, that does not mean you are a fox demon, or, entirely one anyways.**_

Naruto scowled slightly, trying to get what kyuubi was saying. 'So, if I'm only a half demon fox, what's the other half?' Naruto asked. '_**Well. Half isn't entirely accurate either. You see Naruto, no matter what happens, you will always still be a part of your natural heritage, in your case, a human. So, normally, for a half demon, you would be half human, and half of whatever demon your parent was**_. kyuubi explained.

_**It is slightly different in your case, you see, you weren't born a half-demon, instead, you were adopted and became one. For this reason, you have fox ears and tails, to represent your heritage, so you are not truly a fox half demon, but you are a part of us. **_kyuubi said..Naruto thought for a moment. 'So the ears and tails just show im a part of the clan and nothing else? Naruto asked._ That's correct, your fox ears still have the hearing of a human, however, the tails are functional, thus you can use them as tails_. kyuubi explained. 'Ok, that explains the not being a half-demon FOX, part, but if the tails and ears are just for show, what am I half of?

'Well, this is the confusing part, sense you wouldn't be a fox demon by blood, what you will be half of will be based of your soul. kyuubi said. So, in a sense, you wont really be half of anything, because what your demon half will come from will be yourself, but, at the same time, you won't be entirely human either. Trust me on this one though kit, the less you think about it, the less it hurts your head. kyuubi said. Naruto had to agree with this, as trying to make sense of the explanation was hurting his head. 'So, how do I figure out what I'm half of? Naruto asked.

'_**Well, you should be able to feel a new type of Chakra within yourself, there is your blue human chakra, my red chakra which I lend you, and you should feel another chakra. **_Kyuubi explained. So, Naruto began to sift through his psyche, he pushed past the blue chakra, then the red, and found another chakra hidden underneath the previous two. It was a bright, luminous white.

'I found it kaa-San! Naruto shouted in his head. The kyuubi blanched slightly at the volume of her son's voice, but shrugged it off. _**Excellent Naruto, what you do to figure out what you take after, is force the chakra to take a shape, focus every bit of it you can find into a ball, and then concentrate on it as hard as you can, concentrate on finding it's true nature, then, when it's ready, the ball should assume the shape of whatever your demon inheritance saw in your soul.**_ Kyuubi explained. _**Though, I would warn the others what your about to do and what I told you**_

_**before you do it. **_Kyuubi said. Naruto found that it was rather quiet and looked up (he can't see, but his eyes still move with his head, he just kind of stares past whatever he's looking at) and asked. "Why is it so quiet?"

"Well Naruto, you kind of zoned out on us there. The third said.

"You kept making these funny facial expressions like you were having a conversation. Hinata said, giggling slightly. Oh, I was talking to my kaa-san. Naruto said. Anko had a weird look on her face and said." Naruto, what do you mean? I thought I was your kaa-san? She asked. "You are, but Kyuubi is also my kaa-san, she adopted me into her family, which is why I have the ears and tails now. Naruto explained.

"So, are you a half demon?" Iruka asked, fearing for his students life if anyone found out about this. Naruto sighed, preparing to try and explain his situation. Well, I am a half-demon, but at the same time, im not a half-demon. Naruto said. "How can you be a half-demon, and not a half-demon at the same time?" Hiashi asked. If his daughter was going to be friends with a half, full, or non-demon, he wanted to know the full story.

"Well, normally, half-demons are born, not made. Naruto said. So, normally, a half demon has a human and demon or half demon parents. In my case, I had to human parents, but I was adopted into my mothers clan, which gave me my demonic half, but, I am essentially, still all human sense both my parents were human. And sense I was not born a half-demon fox, I cannot become one by just being adopted, the ears and tails just represent im part of the family, like your crest. Said Naruto, pointing at Hiashi's family crest.

But, sense I became a half-demon, from joining a demonic family, I am still a half demon, just not half of what that demon family was. So, the half-demon part of me becomes a reflection of my soul, so, technically, even though im a half demon, the demonic part is still made up of me, so im still just all Naruto. Naruto explained. Seeing the confused looks on everyone's faces, he also added. "Kaa-san also said." "The more you think about it, the more your head hurts." So, does anyone have any questions? Naruto asked.

Ano...Naruto-kun, if you aren't half-fox, what are you half of? Hinata asked. "Well, I was about to find out, but I thought I should tell you guys everything first so you didn't freak out on me or anything. Naruto said.

Naruto started to mold all his demonic chakra into a ball. I have no idea how long this will take and what will happen when im done, so you guys may want to get comfortable. Naruto said. "What are you doing anyways Naruto? Anko asked. Kyuubi said that in order to see what im half of, I need to focus my demonic chakra into a ball, then concentrate on it and force it to assume it's demonic shape, so, I guess whatever shape it forms, thats what im half of. Naruto said, still molding his chakra. Everyone got quiet so that Naruto could concentrate on what he needed to do. The Third also put up some barriers to prevent anything that happened in the room from being exposed.

An hour later, Naruto finally got all his demonic chakra into a ball, it took him a while to try and pull it up from the depths of his human chakra and kyuubi's demonic chakra and not get the Chakra's mixed. Naruto then began to focus on his chakra, willing it to take a form, he focus hard, blocking out all other distractions. The ball began to loose it's shape, it started to flex, moving left, right, up, down, every which way at once, forming into a new shape. The shape started to get more distinct. And the chakra also start to change from it's bright white, to more of a deep, majestic grey, almost black. The form finally became defined, and Naruto found himself looking at the shape of a wolf.

The Everyone's P.O.V

Naruto had been sitting on the bed with his eyes closed, and his hands in the ram form for an hour. No one had said much of anything, nor had they move much. Hiashi was wondering what would happen when the boy finally got the shape down. HE had to admit, he was curious, the boy seemed decent enough, and even if he was a half-demon, he was a half-demon based of his soul, what better judge of character could someone get than seeing a reflection of one's soul? If it was anything good, it might be nice to have Naruto in the family, possibly arrange a marriage between him and his daughter, after all, he would be strong in life, that much was certain.

Iruka was wondering how Naruto would be able to still go to school after this, he still needed an education, and of course, Iruka would miss him dearly if he wasn't at school anymore.

Anko was curious as to how Naruto and the kyuubi would play into her life. She would always be there for Naruto, that much was certain, but she considered him a son. Did he still look at her as a mother, sense the kyuubi was also his adoptive mother?

The third was busy thinking of how to cover up Naruto's new appearance, and still be able to get him to go to school. A genjutsu should work for the ears and tails, but he would have to do some serious village arrests to make a point that Naruto was a member of Konoha, and as such, shouldn't, no, WOULDN"T be segregated like that.

Hinata sat next to Naruto's bed, curious what her friend would turn out to be.(hey, she's eight, not like she's going to be contemplating much else other than that.)

Everyone's musings were cut short as Naruto began to glow, white at first, then a deep, almost blackish grey. The Chakra enveloped his whole body, a Dark grey, bushy tail replaced the three fox tails, and two canine looking ears replaced the two fox ears on his head. His canines elongated slightly, looking more fierce, and his nails grew into claws. His hair changed from the normal bright blond to a majestic grey, and grew out down to his shoulder blades. The three fox like whisker marks on his cheeks were gone. He grew slightly taller and a little more muscular, the chakra surrounding his body died down and the change was complete. Naruto opened his eyes and pronounced. "I'm half wolf."


	8. Chapter 8

Diclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but this story line is mine. Also, I would like to thank my BETA reader, hebiki for BEta reading this and next chapter. Enjoy!

Everyone's musings were cut short as Naruto began to glow, white at first, then a deep, almost blackish gray. The chakra enveloped his whole body, a dark gray, bushy tail replaced the three fox tails, and two canine looking ears replaced the two fox ears on his head. His canines elongated slightly, looking fiercer, and his nails grew into claws. His hair changed from the normal bright blond to a majestic gray, and grew out down to his shoulder blades. The three fox like whisker marks on his cheeks were gone. He grew slightly taller and a little more muscular; the chakra surrounding his body died down, and the change was complete. Naruto opened his eyes and pronounced. "I'm half wolf."

Naruto felt good, but, he also felt as if something had shifted in a part of his mind, almost; it felt as if something had changed, but he couldn't explain it. He almost didn't WANT to explain it, if whatever it was changing made him feel like this, he really didn't want it back. Naruto stood up on the bed, and hopped off it, stretching a few sore muscles and cracking his neck.

"How do you feel Naruto?" The third asked. "I feel good." Naruto replied, flexing his hands. "I'm gonna need some new clothes though." Naruto said, gesturing to his wolf ears, tail, and new hair. "Right, but first, what are we going to do about the ears and tail?" Anko asked. People already saw Naruto as a demon, this would just strengthen their resolve to have him executed or exiled.

"Nothing." Naruto replied without hesitation. Hiashi seemed interested in the boy's choice; he surely knew that the villagers would be all over him with his newly acquired...appearance. "Naruto, if the villagers see you like this, they won't stand for it." Iruka said, trying to talk Naruto out of doing something, in his opinion at least, incredibly stupid. "I don't care what they think anymore Otuo-san." Naruto said, surprising everyone, though Iruka for a different reason. 'He called me father?' Iruka asked himself, touched by Naruto's sentiments.

"Then what do you plan, Naruto-_SAMA_." Anko asked mockingly. "Actually, Kyuubi had something in mind." Naruto said, grinning slightly, his tail wagging happily behind him. "Ano...what's that Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. "What I want to do is change my identity." Naruto declared. "And why is that?" The third asked, truly curious. "No one in the village is going to give 'Uzumaki Naruto' a chance to live an actual life." Naruto said, with firm resolve in his voice. "If I were to change my identity, become someone else, I may have an actual chance at living." Naruto said.

"Hmm...And how would you go about doing this?" Sarutobi asked. If Naruto were serious about this, he might just let him do it. "I'd have to move out on my own, first off." Naruto said, giving Anko an apologetic look. "I really love living with you Anko, you're my kaa-san, but my plan won't work if we're living in the same house together." Naruto explained. "Second, I'll need to move into the Forest of Kumori." Naruto said. "And third, I'll need a way to get back and forth for school." Naruto said, finishing the needs for his plan.

"All right Naruto, you've peaked my interest, care to elaborate the details of your plan?" The third asked. "All right, the reason I would have to move out on my own is because practically everyone knows I live with Anko. If I were seen living with her, someone might figure out I'm me. Moving into the Forest of Kumori will simply guarantee I have some space away from the villagers and if we have a fake Naruto live with Anko for a few days while I'm living on my own, it should seem like I have no affiliation with Anko. After a few days are up, say that I ran away. Thus my identity will have been changed." Naruto said, finishing up his idea.

Sarutobi was thoughtful, this could work rather well: if Naruto were to walk around for a few days while someone else in a henge of him were walking around, no one could suspect him. There were of course clone jutsu, but any that would make a solid clone no one in the academy would know. The only people who would know would be the people in the room. Hiashi was trustworthy; he was one of the few on the supporting side of not having Naruto executed at birth. Anko and Iruka saw Naruto as a son, no way they would tell anyone. But then there was Hinata...

"Well Naruto, all in all, I'd say this is a feasible plan, however, there is just one thing." Sarutobi said, looking at Hinata. "Hinata, can you keep all that was said and seen here today a secret?" The third asked. "Hai, anything that will help Naruto-kun." Hinata replied. Naruto looked (for lack of a better word) In Hinata's direction, and said. "Thanks Hinata-chan, this means a lot to me."

"How will you get back and forth to school Naruto?" Iruka asked. "I've got two legs don't I?" Naruto asked. " And from now on, don't call me Naruto, I'll be Atrum." Naruto (a.k.a. Atrum) said.

"Well, I'd say that just about covers it." The Third said. "Welcome to Konoha ... Atrum-san." Sarutobi said, chuckling slightly. "However, someone will need to walk out as Naruto with Atrum here, preferably down the main road with Miss Hyuuga." Sarutobi said.

"I would like to volunteer, as to pay back to Atrum for bringing Hinata as close to the hospital as he did." Hiashi said. "Naruto, why don't you go get a shower and get the caked blood out of your hair, while I go get you a new set of clothes." Anko said, pointing to the bathroom. "Okay Hahaoya, and, it's Atrum now." Atrum said. Anko blushed slightly in embarrassment and nodded.

Naruto walked off to the bathroom while Anko disappeared in a puff of smoke. "What a day..." The third sighed, rubbing his temples slightly; he could already FEEL the paperwork piling up on his desk. Hiashi sympathized with Sarutobi, he didn't have as much paperwork as the Hokage did, but he did have his fair share being the head of the clan and all, not to mention dealing with the family elders.

No one had much to add to the comment so they mostly stood silently, waiting for Anko to return with Atrum's new clothes. A few minutes later Anko re-appeared holding a bag. She walked into the bathroom and set the bag on the sink for Naruto, then walked out to give him some privacy. A few minutes later, after some swearing, odd noises, shattering glass, and a loud "THUMP!" Atrum walked back into the room.

Hinata looked at Atrum with a small blush on her face. Two gray wolf ears were sticking up from a tangled mass of spiky gray hair that fell down to his shoulders, where an open, sleeveless black vest hung from his shoulders. Atrum choose not to wear a shirt, enjoying the feel of wind on his abdomen. A pair of hemp, gray martial arts pants were secured to his waist with a faded white cloth belt, his bushy wolf tail sticking out through a hole he'd cut in the pants, a simple pair of gray shinobi sandals on his feet, and perhaps the most peculiar thing, (to any one who didn't personally know Atrum) tail and ears aside of course, was the black cloth tied like a blindfold around his head.

"How do I look?" Atrum asked. "You look good, Atrum-kun." Hinata said, surprising herself with her sudden forward-ness. Anko smirked slightly. "Kid, I'll be damned if you don't have a fan-club in school after this." Anko said, winking slightly at Hinata.

"How will you be able to see with that blind-fold on?" Hinata heard her father, Hiashi ask, breaking Hinata out of her thoughts… "I'm blind sir, the blind-fold is just for show." Atrum dead panned. Her father seemed to get a slight case of foot-in-the-mouth at this; he wasn't sure how to reply. He finally managed a "Seems fitting..." out of his mouth before he became silent.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel that it is time to return home, or, in my case, the office." The Hokage said, mumbling the last part slightly. "However, before we all go, I would like you all to accompany me to my office, as to enact Atrum's plan." Sarutobi said. They all nodded and Hiashi focused his chakra before mumbling "Henge!" transforming into Naruto Uzumaki. The group left from the hospital without the doctor's permission, and walked out the front doors.

Once outside, the group began to make they're way towards the Hokage tower. After arriving on the main street, the group got a variety of attention. There was the usual hate and anger, directed towards Naruto (Hiashi). There was also a sense of respect in the air, directed toward the Hokage. Then, there was curiosity. Many curious stares were drawn to Atrum, who was walking in between Sarutobi and Hinata.

Atrum's P.O.V

Atrum couldn't see the curious stares the villagers we're giving him, but he could feel them, and it made him slightly uncomfortable, he wasn't used to receiving any other kind of attention, other than hate. His ears we're also picking up slight whispers of conversation. There was the usual "Demon spawn" and "Fox Incarnate", but there were new whispers of "Who's that" and "What's with the tail?"

He had no idea why the villagers weren't whispering about there being "two demons", or something along those lines, but he thought he could smell...fear? Wait...he could SMELL emotions!? Atrum shook his head; he had a lot to work on with his new senses and identity.

Hiashi P.O.V

Hiashi was on edge, he didn't know how the boy remained sane...much less ALIVE. Hiashi had, at first thought nothing of pretending to be Naruto, merely a way of paying him back for getting his daughter to the hospital. However, he unknowingly, and, perhaps unwillingly got a taste of the boy's life. As soon as the group left the hospital, Hiashi began to feel...almost tired, or, a little sluggish, like something was holding him down. Upon reaching the main road through the village however, it felt like a giant weight crashed down on him from nowhere. He couldn't figure out what it was, but with each step he took, it became harder to keep his cool, to keep from fidgeting, or to even breath. Just as Hiashi began to think he was possibly having a stroke, he realized what it was.

'_This feeling...is it...killing intent?'_ He asked himself. It was, and a lot of it, nearly every villager was staring at him with hatred and contempt in their eyes, dreaming, wishing, WILLING pain and agony upon him. Luckily, he only had to put up with this for a few more minutes, but he had to ask himself. _'Is this what Naruto puts up with everyday of his life?'_

The group walked on, finally getting to the Hokage's tower. They made their way up stairs and finally, into the Hokage's office were, after getting there, the Hokage put up more barriers; Hiashi dropped his Henge and sat down heavily in a chair. After a few minutes rest, Hiashi said his goodbyes to the group, took his daughter, and left.

"Well, it would appear that your plan was a success Atrum." Sarutobi stated. "Of course, any experienced (High Chunnin level, like Iruka, to Jounin) ninja familiar with your, or the Kyyubi's chakra isn't going to be fooled, but, I believe most of the people who could tell your you, won't bother you. With you moving out, I will assign a trust-worthy ANBU to the task of playing you for the next few days. There is a cabin in the forest (A/N Convenient eh?) That I will walk you to here in a moment." Sarutobi said.

The third snapped his fingers and a 'puff' of smoke appeared, revealing an ANBU with tall silver hair. (A/N Does anyone know what animal Kakashi's ANBU mask is? I think it's a dog, but I'm not sure.) "ANBU-san, I have a new mission for you whether you accept or not. For the next three days, you will act as Uzumaki Naruto and live with Anko Mitarashi, starting now." Sarutobi said. The ANBU nodded and in a 'puff' of smoke became Naruto Uzumaki (A/N Before the gray hair and everything.)

"Anko, Naruto, you're dismissed." The third said, waving Anko and 'Naruto' out of his office. "Atrum, if you would follow me, I will show you to your new home." The Third said, walking out onto the balcony. Atrum followed and soon they were jumping from roof to roof, headed for the southern portion of Konoha. Soon, they were out of the southern gate, headed for the Forest of Kumori. Atrum was trying to remember which direction they were going and how to get back from the forest. After a good fifteen minutes of running through the forest, they stopped in a beautiful clearing, one of the few in the Forest of Kumori. The forest got its name from the fact the canopy was so thick; you usually could not tell day from night.

The clearing was beautiful: the trees stood tall, with great, big branches supporting many smaller limbs that held bright green leaves. The grass was thick and alive. A small pond had formed in the clearing, the water crystal clear. In the middle of the clearing was a small, two-room cabin. New sounds and smells assaulted Atrum's new senses as he took in his surroundings. "How did you know about this place Oji-san?" Atrum asked. "This used to be my old summer home, before I became Hokage." Sarutobi replied, a reminiscent look on his face. "It should have everything you need." The old man said, giving a generous smile.

"Thanks Oji-san." Naruto said, flashing Sarutobi a big, real smile. "My pleasure Atrum, now, I really must return to my office, else my desk may not survive the 'In' tray." Sarutobi said. And with that, he turned and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"What a day..." Atrum mumbled to himself, ready for some food and then bed. Wondering what else lay in store for him in the future; anything had to be better than what he was leaving behind.

Forest of Kumori- forest of shadows.


	9. Chapter 9

Diclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the story line is mine though.

-Two weeks after being discharged from the hospital-

Atrum had been putting his new life together for a few days now. With a new identity, came many responsibilities. Some more important than others, one thing in particular, was habits. Atrum had been working hard on breaking some rather bad habits, like eating wrong, not sleeping enough, being self-sufficient. He had never had the chance to make these good habits in his previous life. The store owners would only sell him rotten fruit and dried out vegetables, which more often than not, was worse than not eating at all. So, he had been forced to rely on food that was pre-packaged, such as instant ramen. Sleep had been a big factor; he missed his first day at the academy as Atrum, just from catching up on sleep. He had been so vexed by the villagers, it began to make him lose sleep, and whatever sleep he did get was very light, making it hard to concentrate on anything anyone was saying during the day.

Atrum was also working on his personality; he had been attempting to play an idiot before, so people would just ignore him as a threat, and give him some attention, most of the time it worked, but times like when Breger insulted him during shuriken throwing...the mask slipped and showed his true self. So, he decided he'd just be himself for his new attitude; it was almost like turning a complete one-eighty. He wasn't loud and obnoxious anymore, but quiet and attentive on what people were saying and doing. He paid more attention to how people did things and why, teaching himself important lessons, and paying attention to Iruka's lectures.

A week ago Sarutobi had taken Atrum's plans to eliminate his previous life up quite a big step...

_- Flash back-_

_The whole village had gathered at the center of town for a public event. An execution. Naruto Uzumaki A.K.A. The Kyuubi container had tried to attack his adoptive mother, Anko, in a ' blind fit of bloodlust' capable of only a demon. A convict, found guilty of murder, treason, rape, and a number of other heinous crimes was used for the execution. He was forced into a Henge of Naruto, and given a strong sedative to keep him from blabbing about who he was. After the execution, the villagers decided to throw a party, in which most everyone was involved. Some of the few who did not celebrate were those who knew the truth, Such as Hinata, Iruka, Anko, and the Third. Others, were Naruto's friends, like Shikamaru and Choji, who were already missing their friend dearly._

_- End flashback-_

Atrum shook himself from his musings as he realized the time, if he wanted to get to the academy on time, then he was going to have to get moving. He went inside after his morning exercise and took a shower, paying special attention to his tail. After a few days of having it, much to his dismay, he found that fleas and ticks took a liking to it as much as he did. Stepping out of the shower, he put on the new outfit Anko had gotten him. He grabbed an apple and was out the door, running for the academy.

- In the village

Atrum was running as fast as he could on two legs, thinking he might make it to the academy on time. None of the villagers paid him any attention; no one cared who he was now. He was just another student headed for the academy...even if he did have wolf ears and a tail. The fact that 'The demon brat was dead' was more than enough to appease the villagers, letting things like REAL half-demons slip past them. The academy came into view just up ahead and he put on an extra burst of speed, anyone watching from the side would have seen a gray blur before he passed them. Atrum was rounding the gate when he heard Hinata talking to Shino. "LOOK OUT!" He yelled. As he was about to run into the pair he crouched down and leapt up high, jumping over them. He flipped in the air and landed on his feet.

Hinata was asking Shino how he was doing this morning as she heard a surprised. "LOOK OUT!" She turned in time to see a gray blur rushing towards her. She let out an "Eep!" of surprise before closing her eyes, waiting for pain, but it didn't come. She opened her eyes to see no one in front of her. Instead she felt a finger tap her shoulder. She whirled around and smiled, seeing Atrum standing there with an apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry about that Hinata, Shino." Atrum apologized, giving each a small bow. Shino nodded in return. "How are you this morning Atrum-kun?" Hinata asked. "Great!" Atrum replied, giving a wolfish smile. "How are you two this morning?" He asked. "I'm fine, Atrum-san." Shino said. "Same here." Hinata said. Atrum opened his mouth to say that they should probably head for class, but all that came out was a loud, almost whining sound. Shino raised an eyebrow at him while Hinata looked slightly worried. "Are you alright Atrum-kun?" Hinata asked. Atrum gave a dry cough to clear his throat and said. " Yeah, I'm fine, we should probably head to class though. And he turned around and walked away.

Hinata was worried about her friend. Atrum hadn't been having a good day. At first he seemed fine, but as the day progressed he seemed to be getting more distant. She caught him staring out the window, looking towards the forest more than once. He kept making strange noises and uttering strange growls and whines. At one point, one of Atrum's newly acquired fan girls tried to touch his tail. He turned around and started uttering a deep, guttural growl at her, scaring her away. This didn't go unnoticed by Iruka, either, who more than once, stopped class to ask if Atrum was feeling okay. He'd simply nod his head and go back to staring out the window. Finally, the day came to an end and class was dismissed. Atrum leapt from his desk and ran out the door, and right past his friends, headed for the forest.

"Hinata-San... Did Atrum-San seem...off today?" Shino asked. "Yes, I'm worried about him, I was going to walk with him and make sure he got home, but he's already gone." Hinata answered. "If you wish to accompany me, you may, I'm going to follow Atrum-San and make sure he's all right." Shino said, surprising Hinata. "Anou...no offense Shino-kun, but, why do you care?" Hinata asked. "...He is one of the few people who did not judge me before they knew me, much like you, Hinata-San, and as such, I consider him a friend." Shino answered before moving forward, his male bugs following the scent of the female bug Shino had placed on Atrum.

Atrum was running fast, deep into the forest of Kumori; he wasn't sure why, but it was like he was being pulled to a place by his Ookami instincts. After running himself well past exhaustion, Atrum finally came to a stop in an un-familiar clearing. There wasn't much to look at, a fallen tree, some scattered bunches of rather scraggly looking flowers here and there. However, in the middle of the clearing was, what Atrum at first thought, was a small boulder, seeing a rather bulky shape on his chakra radar. Walking up to it, he got a better look at it.

Channeling a massive amount of chakra to his eyes, he quickly scanned the boulder. What he saw reminded him of a plaque someone would see outside a resident home. In big, bold letters, 'Ookami Clan' was engraved on the stone. Under that, there was a paw imprint, it looked to be the size and shape of a big dog, or possibly, a wolf. Under that, a scene of a man transforming into a wolf was displayed. Atrum was slightly confused, his Ookami instincts told him he was in the right place...but he didn't know why he was there. He sat on the ground in the lotus position...clearing his head and meditating. After a few minutes or so, his head was completely void of all thought, and he concentrated on the problem at hand.

As he concentrated, he began to hear whispers, not from his mind, but from around him. He opened his eyes, looking around, but he didn't see anyone, the voices faded away. Atrum frowned, slightly perplexed. 'Hey, Kaa-San.' He asked, thinking to the Kyuubi. _**'Yes Atrum-kun?'**_Kyuubi answered, showing she was listening to her son. 'Do you know what's going on? My Ookami instincts pulled me to this spot in the forest, but I'm not sure what I'm doing here.' Atrum explained. _**'I'm afraid your on your own here son, I'm a fox, not a wolf. I'm sure you can figure it out on your own.'**_ Kyuubi replied, laughing slightly at the pout that was on her son's face.

Atrum decided to try meditating again, since his mother didn't know what was going on. He once again, cleared his mind of everything but the problems at hand. He heard the voices again; they were faint, distant, almost as if he were trying to hear them through a storm. So, he tried to focus on the voices rather than the bewildering Ookami problem. He could hear the voices a little more clearly now, there were many of them, they sounded happy, if not slightly eager. 'For what?' Atrum wondered to himself. He focused more, putting every ounce of his concentration into hearing the voices. Just as he thought the voices were becoming clearer he heard a twig snap.

Hinata and Shino came to an opening into the woods. The first thing they saw was some small boulder sitting in the middle of the clearing, the second thing they saw was Atrum sitting in the lotus position meditating. Hinata took a step forward, stepping on a small twig. One of Atrum's ears flickered, then a nostril flared, smelling who was here his tail started to wag happily behind him like he did whenever his friends were around, particularly her.

"Hey guys." Atrum said, standing up to greet his friends with a warm smile. "Why are you here?" He asked, a curious look on his face. Hinata looked down at her feet feeling slightly guilty. What if this was Atrum's special place and they were intruding on it. Hinata was saved from divulging on that thought as Shino spoke up. "Hinata-San and I were worried about you Atrum-San. You were acting strangely all day today, so we wanted to make sure you were ok." Shino said. Hinata nodded in agreement.

Atrum was touched; here were two people who actually cared for them. As Atrum opened his mouth to speak a loud crash was heard as Iruka stumbled into the clearing, looking as though he'd fallen out of a tree. He groaned slightly, standing and rubbing his lower back. He turned around to see his students looking at him like he had two heads and gave a sheepish grin. "I assumed Hinata and Shino were following you so I decided to tag along as well." Iruka said, smiling slightly. Quicker than Iruka could think, Hinata could "Eep", or Shino could act, Atrum pulled them all into a hug, happy tears flowing down his face as Iruka and Hinata hugged him back while Shino was trying to keep himself from twitching, Aburames did NOT like physical contact.

As the group broke apart Atrum decided he could let Shino in on his secret of being half-wolf. Iruka asked why he was there and so he explained how all day his Ookami instincts had been driving him nuts to get to this spot. When Atrum had mentioned being a half-demon, Shino raised an eyebrow, but that was the only sign he showed of surprise. Atrum finished the story off with when he was trying to focus on the voices and when the three had entered the clearing.

"Interesting." Shino said, after hearing the story, pretty much summing up all of everyone's thoughts in one word. "So you're having trouble hearing these voices?" Iruka asked. Atrum nodded, not really sure what to do at this point. "Anou...Atrum-Kun, do you possibly have an animal form?" Hinata asked. Atrum sat there for a moment; dumbfounded he hadn't thought to ask the Kyuubi. "Err...I don't know." Atrum answered. 'Hey, Kaa-San, do I have an animal form as a half-demon?' Atrum asked. _**'Yes, you do Atrum-chan**_. Kyuubi replied. '...NANI!?!?!, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!?!' Atrum bellowed, causing his mother to laugh. '_**You never asked**_.' she replied, giving him a foxy smile. _**'Oh...and tell your girlfriend she is rather smart for her age**_.' Kyuubi said, watching her son turn bright red.

Atrum had been quiet for about five minutes now; Hinata liked it when this happened, because she knew Atrum was talking to the Kyuubi, and it was just so funny because of all the facial expressions he made. She giggled slightly as she saw an especially betrayed look coming over his face, followed soon by one of exasperation, then his face turned bright red as he muttered a few un-intelligible words. Shino raised his eyebrow slightly at this, while Iruka was wondering what the Kyuubi was saying to Atrum.

After he recovered from his embarrassment, which took a few minutes, Atrum was ready to find out how to change shape. 'So, how do I change shape?' He asked. _**'Simply mold your Ookami chakra, and think wolf.'**_ Kyuubi replied, closing the mental connection with her son to let him figure the rest out on his own.

Atrum's head shot up, causing Iruka and Hinata to jump slightly. "I know how to transform!" He yelled, quickly getting to his feet to try it out. Atrum brought his hands together in the ram sign, and molded some of his Ookami chakra. When he had a sizeable portion formed, he focused his thoughts on the picture of a wolf.

Hinata, Iruka, and Shino were watching Atrum expectantly. He had been standing there molding chakra for at least a minute now. Suddenly they heard a loud "POP!" come from Atrum. The 'pop' was followed by more noises as Atrum's body began to transform; bones popped out of place and reconfigured themselves while certain ligaments de and re-attached themselves. His gray hair grew out, becoming thicker, and spreading all over his body. Atrum was on all fours now, his hands and feet turning into paws, his mouth elongating into a muzzle, full of sharp, pointed teeth.

Finally, after a few minutes, the changes stopped. Before them stood a wolf pup and it looked like it was about a year old. Before anyone could say anything, Hinata let out a loud squeal of "KAWAI!" And started strangling Atrum in a hug.

Atrum was slightly confused and dizzy. His animal form wasn't ANYTHING like he'd expected. He thought he would be a big, fully matured wolf...not a pup. Before he could even attempt to stand, a loud cry of "KAWAI!" pierced his ears, stunning him. The next thing he new he was gasping for air in Hinata's death-by-hug grip. Iruka looked at Shino, who in turn looked at Iruka. In an unspoken agreement, they both turned back to Atrum's predicament and burst out laughing. Working his muzzle over Hinata's shoulder, he began to wheeze out "NEED...AIR..." Hinata let out an "OH!" of embarrassment and put Atrum back on the ground, blushing a deep crimson. Atrum inhaled as deeply as he could, sucking in the fresh, sweet oxygen.

"Note to self: DO NOT transform in class." Atrum said aloud, shivering from a sudden mental image of a horde of fan girls. Shino and Iruka continued to laugh as Atrum sat by sullenly and muttered "Traitors..." Hinata still looked down embarrassedly. Atrum noticed this and said. "I don't care if you hug me Hinata-chan, just don't put me in a death grip." Hinata perked up and laid Atrum on her lap, scratching his ears slightly. "I have to wonder why I'm only a pup though." Atrum said, ears drooping sadly. Hinata pulled him into a not-quite-so-deadly hug to comfort him.

"Aww...Isn't that cute?" He heard a woman say. Turning toward the direction of where he thought he heard the voice. "Who said that?" He asked, listening. "Who said what Atrum-kun?" Hinata asked. "I Did." the voice answered again. "He's not to bright is he?" Another voice piped in, smaller, more of a squeak than an actual voice. "No, he doesn't seem to smart, but then again, you have to give him credit for figuring out how to talk to us on his own." Another voice replied, deeper, slightly burly voice. "WHO THE HELL IS TALKING?!?!" Atrum roared, causing the three voices to laugh and his friends to look at him oddly.

"Pardon our manners, we are the tree's in the clearing." The woman voice said. "I'm talking to trees?" Atrum asked. "Yep, but don't let that bother you, now that you're part of the clan, you're going to see even more confusing stuff." The male voice replied. Atrum groaned slightly. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" He asked. "Well, regardless of whether you will like it or not, your part of the clan now, and we can tell you how to summon someone who can help explain things to you." The burly one sounded again "All right, what do I do?" "Just look at the bottom of the stone in the clearing." The male voice replied.

-Meanwhile-

'Who is he talking too?' His friends wondered, seriously beginning to worry about his mental health.

Atrum suddenly remembered the plaque and the paw print that was on it. He leapt out of Hinata's arms and hurried over to the small boulder. He fit his paw into the paw print, and looked down at the pictures again. The first was a man transforming. There were two more under it, having been hidden by the tall grass. One showed a wolf, placing its paw into the paw print, and a swirl effect Atrum took to be chakra swirling up to the wolf's head from the stone. The second picture showed the wolf howling in the same position. As the others approached, Naruto started to push chakra into the paw print

As soon as chakra touched the stone, it activated, a series of complex and intricate looking lines traveling away from Atrum's paw. The lines suddenly turned a bright yellow, traveling back up to Atrum and swirling under his paw. Atrum then lifted his head toward the sky and let loose a long, spine tingling howl. The howl was long, almost as if he was singing. Hinata thought it was beautiful while Iruka and Shino thought he was just showing off. A few moments later as Atrum was still howling, a lone wolf crashed into the clearing, looking around wildly. Atrum stopped howling to look at the newcomer. The wolf locked eyes with Atrum as Atrum himself seemed to stare just past the wolf.

"Who are you?" The wolf asked. Still staring into Atrum's eyes. "I'm, Atrum." he replied. Unlike him, this wolf was fully mature, a bit on the lanky side, but it's teeth and claws were by no means just for show. It had shaggy gray hair, lighter than Atrum's. "And your name?" Atrum asked. The wolf seemed to hesitate for a moment, before saying. "I am called Aturu." "Are you an Ookami?" The wolf asked uncertainly. Atrum gave Aturu a confused look before asking. "What's an Ookami?" "The Ookami Clan was a clan of half-demons that perished long ago. They could speak with nature, were allies with wolves, and were an all around great people, just to name a few distinctions. Unfortunately, the clan was wiped out by some unknown cause, but that's beside the point. Only an Ookami could have brought me here." Aturu explained.

"Why could only an Ookami bring you here?" Atrum asked. "As I said before, wolves were allied with the clan. Each half-wolf demon would have a pack of actual wolves for partners through out life. The clan gave us these special seals on our paws." Aturu said, holding out his paw so that Atrum could see it. "The rare points in time when we weren't around, and a Ookami needed us, all they would have to do is howl. However, if we were too far away to hear, they would use the plaques, or a toenail the wolf gave them with the same symbol to call us. And we would feel the symbol tingle." The wolf explained. "Why a toenail?" Atrum asked. "They grow back". Aturu replied simply. "Likewise, us wolves could call on our partner." "I see"...Atrum said. "Well, I'm not sure how it happened, but it looks like I'm part of the clan." Atrum said, giving a wolfish grin. Aturu relaxed slightly at this and returned the grin. "Looks like it." he replied.

Meanwhile...

Hinata, Shino, and Iruka watched as Atrum carried on a conversation with the other wolf. Barking, growling, whining and yipping. Shino and Iruka had no idea what was going on, nor did Hinata, but she was too distracted by the thought of it being cute. The way the wolves' tails swayed back and forth lazily, or how they talked with their paws, waving them around in the air to prove a point. Right down to the wolfish facial expressions.

With Atrum and Aturu...

"Well, I'm glad the clan is going to be restored, it's been boring without them around!" Aturu said, giving a slight chuckle. "Well, do you think you could tell me a little about the clan? What they were like, what they did, where they lived?" Atrum asked, truly curious. "Oh they were some of the best people around, hard working folks too, and they knew how to have fun..."Aturu said, a slight reminiscent look on his face. "Wait...I thought you said the clan perished a long time ago; how old are you?" Atrum asked. "I turned two hundred and seven this spring." The wolf replied proudly. Atrum gaped slightly at that. "Two hundred and seven?" Atrum asked. Aturu saw the look on Atrum's face and began to explain. "Half-demons live longer lives than humans do Atrum, so, when a pack of wolves ally with a particular member of the clan, a blood ritual is held that gives the wolves the same life span as the clan member." Aturu said. "No one truly knows how long a half-demon lives before dying of old age because most die in battle, disease, and other causes." Aturu explained. "So...I'm going to outlive my human friends?" Atrum asked sadly. "Well, yes and no...Yes, you could outlive them, but, if they joined the clan and became a half demon, they would have the same life span." Aturu explained.

"Wow...this is a lot to take in." Atrum said. "Oh, you were wanting to know where your clan lived weren't you?" Aturu asked. "Oh, yes, I was." Atrum replied. "That's an easy one, all you have to do is put your paw one on top of the other, and push your human and Ookami chakra into the plaque while thinking 'Home'." Aturu said. The wolf looked past Atrum at the other three, who were standing there, looking slightly left out. "Who are they?" Aturu asked. Atrum turned around, feeling slightly guilty about forgetting his friends for a moment. "I'm sorry, this is Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Iruka Umino." Atrum replied, nodding to each of his friends in turn. Aturu gave them a wolfish grin and bowed his head to them slightly. "This is Aturu." Atrum said, introducing the wolf.

"A pleasure to meet you Aturu." Hinata said, bowing to the wolf. Iruka followed Hinata's action, while Shino gave the wolf a slight nod. "Well guys, I just found out that I'm part of a really old clan that was formed of half demons; I'm the heir to the clan, but I'm still not certain how, but I have a clan house!" Atrum exclaimed. The shocked look on Iruka and Hinata's faces caused Atrum and Aturu to snicker in what could only be seen as 'Wolfish laughter'.

"Anou… does Aturu know how you became the heir to the clan, Atrum?" Hinata asked, curious. "Would you happen to know how I became the heir to the clan Aturu?" Atrum asked. "Well, from what I understand, there were only four ways to become part of the clan. The first, and most obvious way was to be born into it." Aturu explained. "Second, you could be adopted into it, as long as you were a half demon. Third, you could marry into it, in which case the spouse became the same type of demon as their partner through a similar blood ritual the wolves had. And last, is the way I think you became heir." Aturu said, his voice slightly grim.

"If you couldn't become part of the clan in any of the previous ways, there was one more way to become part of the clan, with two outcomes." Aturu said, no sound of humor in his voice. "The way is more of a trial than anything. You can ask to be given half-demon powers by the demon lords of the clan, if they find you worthy, they will accept. They each give you a small bit of there power and your own soul reflects what type of half-demon you would become. Now, that was common, but there were risks in doing this. Becoming a half-demon for some was bad, because of the personality changes that came with some of the transformations. For example, if you became a half-demon snake, and had a neutral personality, you would become evil, usually most people who became snakes died right after it was confirmed." Aturu said, a serious tone in his voice. "Others, became half-demons of other animals and were perfectly happy joining the clan. That was the first outcome, the second, is what made you heir."

"You see, wolves were the strongest amongst the clan, because of the life you had to endure before your soul reflected that of a wolf." Aturu explained, giving Atrum a sympathetic look, knowing he must have had a difficult life. "The wolves being the strongest of the clan, and the ones who began the clan, were the clan heads. I'll get into the council and inner workings later, but for now, to tell you why your heir." Aturu said. "Normally, position of Clan Head was handed down through battle, if anyone thought they were stronger than the clan head, they could challenge him for the position. Since you are the only person in the clan at the moment, and not to mention the only half-wolf, that automatically gives you the position of clan head, since you are technically the strongest, but since you're not of age to be clan head, that makes you the clan heir." Aturu said, stopping for a moment to let Atrum collect his thoughts and let him take a breather.

"Wow..." Was all Atrum could say. He relayed the information he had just received to his friends, telling them how he had become clan head. Needless to say, they found it interesting. "I guess this means I'm going to have to rebuild the clan then?" It was more of a statement than a question. Aturu nodded, and then pointed out. "It looks like you're off to an early start." He said, nodding towards Hinata and snickered slightly.

Atrum scowled and gave a good-natured bark at the wolf. The wolf was about to tackle Atrum when he noticed that, once again Atrum was looking just past him, a vacant, glazed look in his eye. Aturu thought for a moment, then asked. "Atrum...are you blind?" Atrum just gave a sad nod in return. "How did it happen?" Aturu asked, not seeing any scars indicating a fight. Atrum retold the story of how he lost his eyesight five years back because of the villagers' attacks. Aturu gained a saddened look on his face and let out a long, mournful howl for his new friends loss. Atrum gave Aturu a small smile of thanks before turning to his friends, explaining why he was howling. Shino raised an eyebrow and asked. "You're blind?" "Oops, he-he..." Atrum said, slightly put off. "Yes I am, I would prefer we keep it between us." Atrum said. Shino simply nodded.

"Anou, just out of curiosity, can you speak human?" Atrum asked. Aturu shook his head and replied. "I can understand human speech, but I myself cannot use the language." He explained. ""Would you mind if I just spoke human so I don't have to keep explaining everything to them? Atrum asked. "Not at all." Aturu replied. "Thanks Aturu, well let's go check out the family home." Atrum said. Atrum walked over to the plaque, and placed both paws over the paw print spot, in one paw, he pushed his human chakra into the plaque, and in the other, he pushed his wolf chakra in.

As Atrum forced his chakra into the small boulder, The intricate pattern of lines once again traveled down the rock, but this time, instead of coming back up, the lines spiraled out across the ground in a ten foot radius, the lines then began to rotate, faster and faster until all that could be seen was a circle, half blue and half yellow. As the chakra spun, the ground pulled up and away, revealing a stone floor. The lines worked across the face of the stones, making odd seals and more patterns before a loud 'POOF' was heard and the group was enveloped in smoke. The lines began to slow down, then stopping completely as the lines receded to the stone plaque, vanishing. Atrum stood slowly, tired from using so much chakra, and found that he'd revealed a staircase that led underground. "Not exactly what I expected, but still pretty cool." Atrum said, the others, the only exception being Aturu who had seen it before, nodded.

Atrum started down the stairs, and noticed that just inside the staircase, there was another plaque like the one outside... 'Must be a way of closing off the passage." Atrum thought to himself. Going down the staircase on four legs was a lot different than on two legs, Atrum found out. He got down three steps before loosing his balance and tumbling the rest of the way down the stairs. Everyone ran after the tumbling form of Atrum, eventually using a Katon jutsu for light. After what seemed like forever, the group finally reached the bottom of the stairs, finding a slightly dazed and ruffled looking Atrum. Looking around, they seemed to be in a room with a high ceiling, but it was too dark to see much. Standing back up, Atrum noticed another plaque on the wall, thanks to his chakra radar, but, this time for a human hand, set on the wall. He transformed back into his human form, losing his fur and wolfish features and thought there was a bit of a draft... Hinata took one good look at him in his birthday suit before she passed out, a huge blush on her face still present. Aturu was howling with laughter, quite literally as, he ran back to the surface to get Atrum his clothes.

Atrum stepped out of the darkness, fully clothed this time. He realized Hinata was now conscious by the sound of her breathing. "Sorry about that guys, I kind of forgot." She and the others just nodded their heads. Atrum decided to mess with them and said. "Apology accepted?" they nodded again. Atrum allowed his head to drop, to hide his grin, and said. "I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore." The girl looked horrified, while Iruka and Shino were trying to figure out why he was acting so weird. Meanwhile Aturu had reached around to 'chew an itch off his tail', but what the others didn't know is that he had stuffed his tail into his mouth to keep from breaking out laughing, his whole body quaking with stifled laughter.

"But I nodded my head that I accepted you apology!" Hinata exclaimed, near tears. "Oh, you did?" Atrum looked up after having plastered a hopeful smile over his grin. "YES!" they all three shouted, Iruka and Shino with annoyance and Hinata with despair. " Okay, okay, Jeeze, I'm sorry, I can't see your heads shaking, ya' know?" Hinata and Iruka looked horrified that they had forgot Naruto was blind...again, while Shino had just raised an eyebrow...as usual. At this point Aturu couldn't hold it anymore and burst out laughing. When the wolf started his laughing the corners of Atrum's lips started to curl up into a smile before he was caught in full blown laughter. Hinata pouted while Iruka had an anger vein going. Shino just shook his head.

Atrum straightened up as he stopped laughing and saw the pouting Hinata and angry Iruka and said. "Oh come on guys, Ya' Know I love ya." He said. Iruka just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, uttering a "Baka." Hinata on the other hand... 'He said he loves me...' she thought, and then was blissfully unconscious as she hit the grown, a small smile adorning her face. "I think you just made her day Atrum." Aturu chuckled. "I aim to please." Atrum replied. "Now let's take a look at this plaque..." Atrum said, placing his hands on the plaque.

Once again, Atrum pushed both his chakra s into the plaque, this time however; the yellow took over the blue chakra as it raced up the wall, spidering out along the wall, then the ceiling, revealing it to look like a rather large dome. The chakra raced along the ceiling and walls, bathing the entire place in a golden, yellowish hue. It looked like a small town. (Imagine the Uchiha district, only bigger.) As the town lit up, Atrum could see multiple buildings and districts, there were at least twelve different districts that he could see, all having they're own unique symbols and crests. The ceiling, which was now fully imbued with the hair thin chakra lines, portrayed a picture of the sky, lighting the town. It was a bright golden sun, in the middle of a baby blue sky, with a few clouds passing lazily by.

"I've got a lot to learn about this place and my clan, haven't I?" Atrum asked Aturu. The wolf nodded and Atrum sighed. Things just got a lot more interesting, for better or for worst, he couldn't decide...

(Explanation as to why Atrum (Naruto) felt the urge to go to the clan house so suddenly in the next chapter, along with the voices he was hearing before Shino and the others arrived. Also, why the Kyuubi attacked. Didn't want to make this chapter too long. (Second pairing introduced in the next chapter.) Sorry about all the chapters explaining everything being boring, but I'd rather have a boring story beginning than have an action-packed story that makes no sense what so ever. The story is just at the tip of the proverbial ice burg; I plan for it to be a long one.

Atrum- if anyone can tell me what the name stands for and in what language, I'll do a one shot on any topic said person wants EXCEPT yaoi.

Forest of Kumori- forest of shadow

Ookami - wolf


	10. Rewrite progress

Hello all readers. Just so you know, I haven't scraped this story, but I did put the rewritten version in as a new story. "Hidden strength of Uzumaki Rewrite". The first chapter is out! Hope you enjoy it.


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